Sister of the Tides
by One Bright Light
Summary: A new girl comes to Camp Half-Blood and when she is claimed, it gets awkward! Percy needs to face the facts of having a god as his parent and sibling jealousy! Yes, I know this is cliche. No, I don't care. I promise that she is not a Mary-Sue and she won't date Nico! Set after BoO. Rated K just in case.
1. I - PERCY

Disclaimer: I don't own anything (not even the pictures) except my OC.

**PERCY**

**I**

The hot afternoon sun beat down on the group of half-bloods in the dust. Swords clanged against each other and metal glinted under the merciless sun.

You could feel the tension in the humid air as the two waves clashed and converged against each other. Steel armor gleamed and warriors grunted as they delivered blow after blow.

The dust rose into clouds of earth vapor that momentarily blocked the fighters from view. The younger trainees leaned forward, their faces drawn into frowns. Then the dust settled and the kids, mostly teens, sat back on the benches around the arena.

A dozen small battles were raging everywhere, mostly mono-e-mono standoffs. The young recruits studied the scene in front of them, some with a hungry glint in their eyes, some disinterested.

Their appearances varied: Some had brown, stringy hair and bulky muscles, while others were slim, with fair hair. Even others had black hair and were dressed in dark punk clothes. There was one thing they all had in common, though. The were all wearing orange T-shirts and each of them had a leather necklace with clay beads on it around their necks.

Though the whole setup and the strategy were fascinating, their eyes kept being drawn to one of the duels in particular: A standoff between a boy and a girl in the middle of the arena.

The girl had short, curly blonde hair that was pulled back in a ponytail. It whipped at her cheeks as she struck out at her opponent with inhuman strength, her bright, new bronze dagger flashing through the air faster than one could think possible. Her grey eyes were cool and calm, calculating her rival's every move before he could make it.

Said rival was a boy with ebony hair and sea-green eyes that twinkled with happiness and laughter, caught in the heat of the moment. His sword, a celestial bronze blade with a leather grip, swung through the air in weightless arcs. His attacks connected, but they connected against the girl's dagger.

The duo moved double as fast as anybody else in the arena, their arms entwining, then flashing apart by the whirl of battle. Bronze arcs flashed around them, radiant streamers through the afternoon air. The moved perfectly in sync, as if they knew their contestant's moves by heart, like graceful dancers on a dance floor full of drunk, tired high-school age kids who had done too much homework.

"Σταματήστε!" a voice called out and the fighting ceased in one moment as the centaur Chiron clopped forward. He moved through the ranks of fighters, congratulating them one moves as he went. The competitors all nodded, gasping and puffing as sweat poured down their backs.

All except the two fighters in the middle. Seemingly deaf, they whirled on, faster and faster, and they showed no signs of stopping. Then, there was a slight shift in their stances: Their bodies moved further apart as if collecting themselves for a lightning strike.

When it came, they both struck at the same time. The boy's sword arced through the air in a deadly descent, only to be stopped by the girl's knife. She had caught the sword on her blade, a move only the quickest and most skilled knife-fighter could manage.

For one moment, the two grinned at each other, both outmatched, both out of moves to throw at the other. Then, they kissed.

* * *

"Admit it, I'm better than you," I chuckled, pulling away from Annabeth. _Just this once_, I thought, _maybe she won't_…

She punched me in the gut and smiled at me, angelic. "Seaweed brain."

_Okay, then again maybe she will_.

I laughed and put my arm around her as we snuck, as inconspicuously as we could, to the back of the crowd waiting for Chiron's comments on their performance. I returned my sword to its more handy ballpoint pen shape and stuck it in my pocket, while Annabeth slid her knife into the sheath on her arm.

Some campers were already leaving, trying to catch some time to clean up before the next activity started. Chiron walked over to us, his horse tail flicking flies away in the summer sun. "Impressive as always, Percy, Annabeth. I suggest to get Nico to raise some more ghost warriors for you to spar with."

Annabeth smiled. "Okay, Mr Chiron. One question though…" I kept waiting for the day when Annabeth was out of questions. Unfortunately, that would be the day on which the Underworld froze over.

I breathed in deeply. The smell of Camp always calmed me down and made me feel right at home: Strawberry fields, smoke from the forges, salt from the sea, horse manure…

All of a sudden, I glimpsed movement at the top of the hill. Peleus, the dragon guarding the golden fleece on Thalia's pine tree raised his head and squinted into the distance. I slipped my arm from around Annabeth's shoulders and cocked my head. The golden dragon turned around to the valley and uttered and long, hoarse roar.

Annabeth whipped her head around, her grey eyes instantly alert. She smiled. _Man_, she looked good like that. "Finally, a new camper! I was beginning to think we had all of them!"

Chiron waved at us and galloped off towards the distant hill. Annabeth and I glanced at each other and ran towards the pine tree at top speed.

* * *

We were among the first campers to reach the summit, even though we had been all the way down at the arena. What can I say? Saving the world leaves you in top condition. We came to a stop beside Peleus and stared down at the scenario.

My first thought was: _Grover._ My best friend was standing halfway up the hill, his eyes wide. His set of reed pipes was at his lips and he was playing frantically. The music was a quick jig, like the wind blasting over meadows in a storm. The grass on the hillside rippled, almost toppling the monster but not quite restraining it. The thing was about as large as the average horse, with the back legs and hindquarters of a horse and the front talons, head and wings of a rooster.

"A _hippalectryon_," Annabeth murmured into my ear. I nodded as feet pounded behind me. Turning around, I found Clarisse standing next to me, breathing hard, her electric spear Maimer in her hand. "Where's the monster?" she huffed. "Who do I kill?"

"You won't be able to kill anybody in that condition," I noted.

She glared at me, but her eyes weren't nearly as scary as Tartarus. I stared back, totally cool. She growled. "Jackson, remind me to pulverize you later." I nodded agreeably.

Grover was now frantically gesturing and yelling at the girl to get over here, where she would be safe, but she stubbornly shook her head. I could relate. If I was given the chance to kill a monster, I wouldn't back down either.

Grover groaned and clopped back down the hill, grabbing at rocks and branches and throwing them at the monster to distract it. The girl fumbled with a long something in her hand, a hunter green something…

"What is it?" I asked Annabeth.

She squinted down the slope. "Compound bow. We don't use them. Unlike longbows, compound bows have a wheel on the top and bottom of the string. They spread the tension so when you're drawing the bow, you don't have to hold the whole weight of the string. They're used mostly in schools in extra-curricular activities."

I nodded. "I see." _Not_.

The girl had nocked an arrow and was backing carefully away from the monster, letting it come to her. The rooster's head crowed in triumph and sprang forward, just as an arrow sank into its neck.

Grover threw a rock that bounced off its head and the monster howled, thoroughly confused. It turned, flapping its wings, but the space was too small for it to fly. It bucked and shook its head in agony as the electric blue arrow slid around under its skin.

The girl cursed and drew another arrow, a golden one this time. I heard some of the Apollo whisper appreciatively. "Nice stance, although…"

The horse-bird turned, screeching to Grover. My friend backed away, out of tricks. I instinctively reached for my pen, but Annabeth stopped me. "Wait for it…"

I looked at her, then back at the monster. It snarled at Grover, ready to pounce. Then, a rock hit it in the head. "Hey!" a voice yelled. "Come here, you freak of nature! Rooster pony! Uh, big bad griffin!"

The monster turned around and stalked up to the girl, every claw-step shaking the ground. It bent its head low to the ground and opened its maw for a mighty roar… which didn't happen. At the last second, a golden arrow rocketed from the girl's bow. Straight down the pony-bird's throat.

The thing choked, its eyes bulging as sand spewed from its maw. Its rusty orange-golden feathers stood up on end. Then, the whole thing collapsed into a pile of golden sand. I whistled appreciatively. "Man, she _totally_ owned that hippo."

Annabeth elbowed me. "It's _hippalectryon_. Come on, let's welcome the new camper."

But we didn't need to. Grover and the girl were running up the hill, and the G-man had a large smile on his face. He was waving something in his hand… I groaned. "Please tell me that's not what I think it is."

"'Fraid so," Annabeth chuckled. "It's a raw rooster foot."

Piper shuddered next to Jason. "That has to be the most _disgusting_ spoil of war ever."

I grinned. "Phineas's bathrobe and slippers were worse." The daughter of Aphrodite, a vigilant vegetarian, shuddered again.

Annabeth elbowed me again, not so gently this time. "Seaweed brain…"

"Hey, I didn't do anything!"

"No kisses for a week," she said, staring straight ahead. I pouted. "Come on…"

I was cut off by Grover and the mystery girl arriving at the top of the hill.

"Hey, G-man!" I called out. "Like to introduce the new recruit?"

Grover turned to the girl next to him, and we all got a good look at the new arrival.

She was about twelve years old, with long, silvery-blonde hair and fair skin. Her eyes were deep blue, not light like Jason's, but almost teal. She had a spatter of silver-grey freckles over her snub nose. She was wearing ripped jeans, charcoal converse sneakers and a denim jacket over a hunter-green T-shirt printed with the words _Some people just need a high-five. In the face. With a chair_.

Her arrows, three of them, were slung casually through the belt loops of her jeans. Her _compound bow_, as Annabeth called it, was in her right hand. I waved at her as she looked around with a defiant expression, no doubt wondering who all these freaks in orange T-shirts were. Grover patted her on the shoulder and turned to us. "Camp Half-Blood, may I introduce our newest camper: Yvette!" He pronounced it _eee-VET_.

About fifty kids raised their hands into the air and cheered. Some clapped, some laughed and some ran forward to introduce themselves.

That ceased when Chiron padded to the front. Yvette's eyes widened. She glanced at Grover, then slung her bow over her shoulder and dipped her head. I was amazed by how easily she took this. When I'd seen Chiron the first time, I had been ready to fall to the floor and have a heart attack. But something in this girl's eyes told me that she wasn't backing down so easily.

Chiron smiled. "Welcome, Yvette! I am sure Grover has told you by now that the Olympian gods, Greek and Roman, are real and still ruling the world. And I am sure he has told you that you are a demigod, the child of a god and a mortal…" He chattered on, putting his hand on Yvette's shoulder as he led her in the direction of the Big House porch. Her _Hello Kitty Must Die_ backpack was the last thing we saw.

"She would rock it off with Thalia," Grover said, amused.

I turned back to Annabeth. "You think she could be a daughter of Athena? Because I got the full Athena vibes coming from her."

Annabeth shook her head. "Not quite. Something's off. Athena _always_ has a plan. Yvette did to, kind of… But with the bow? I think she could be of Apollo. She's young, and she's got a bit of acne, so Hebe maybe? Or Hecate. It could be anybody, really. She's just so… neutral."

I shrugged. "And she's got one heck of a temper, I'd guess."

"Oh, yeah," Grover agreed. "I was at the school, and she was _famous_. People were always talking about how she talked back to the teachers and the bullies and she _always_ had a response. I swear, when this big guy came up to her at lunch one day and said: 'I don't think you're as tough as everybody says', she replied, without missing a beat, 'Go and be annoying somewhere else. I'm having a private conversation here.'"

"Well," Annabeth sighed. "I might as well follow them. You know, to give her the tour and everything." She kissed me on the cheek. "Meet you at Capture-the-Flag tonight."

I kissed her back and watched her as she ran off

* * *

**So, what did you think?**

**Yvette is an actual name, and its meaning will be revealed in the next chapter.**

**Compound bows ****_do_**** exist, and I shoot with one at school when I do Archery. They're much easier to draw than longbows.**

**Picture of a longbow: .ca/big_ **

**Picture of a compound bow: fs12/i/2006/290/4/3/Arrows_And_Compound_Bow_by_ **

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	2. II - YVETTE

Disclaimer: I don't own anything except for Yvette. So sue me.

**YVETTE**

**II**

So I learned today that the universe was controlled by gods. Whatever. As long as they didn't mess with my life, I was okay with it.

Why was I so calm? Please. I always knew that there was something fishy about the way my mum spoke about my dad, the way she didn't have photos of him and the way she had this very unconvincing story that they had met one night and, well.

The next day, it was over and she never saw him again. But when she talked about him, she'd get this dreamy look in her eyes and I would know she was lying because nobody can bring up so much affection for a person in one night. I mean, _really_. Did she expect me to believe that crap? Please.

So when Grover told me I was a demigod, I was like _Sure. Finally I get the answer_. It also explained the rather… _weird_ appearances of people who randomly wanted to kill me. I'd get home full of scratches since I wasn't the more sporty type and had to rely on wits to get me out of situations alive. Wits and reflexes and trash talk.

So, I was average height and had silver-blonde hair that went past my shoulders. I liked my hair. It made for a rather impressive appearance, together with my eyes, which were unusual by themselves. Normally, with blue eyes, there was a ring of yellow around the pupil. Mine were pure blue-grey.

I also had freckles which helped cover up my teenage acne. Hey, anything good is welcome. I had always been the rebellious type, so I spent my childhood watching bullies and learning that the world wasn't a fluffy green field full of rainbow daisies and unicorns. Because it just didn't work that way.

When I was about to loosen my first arrow into the griffin, what had I been thinking? I had been squinting to get a better hit. Archery was the only sport I did and I liked it that way, since I told you before I wasn't an athlete. I could hold my arm fairly still and the rules were pretty easy: Shoot at the targets, three arrows only, never shoot when another person is in front of you. Totally cool.

I admit, I was pretty disappointed with myself when my first arrow didn't go into the bird-pony's throat. I mean, the monster had its mouth open wide! Seriously, I shouldn't have missed a shot like that. Thankfully, I got my second arrow in. The whatever-it-was really shouldn't roar so much. It could catch flies. Also, a hoarse throat.

My mother's name was Inca Meyers. She had golden blonde hair almost like me and she was always cheerful. She was a journalist for the New York Times, and she was damn good at her job, too. She was all on the roll for winning the Pulitzer Prize, in my opinion. I came along before she could do anything, though, and her ambitions had step back when I took over her life. I still feel bad about that.

So, where were we? Ah, yes, when Chiron started telling me about how the gods were real.

I listened with relative calmness, which was only interrupted by the tan blonde with grey eyes arriving. She leaned against the porch railing and studied me as Chiron talked. I stared rudely back at her. Just because I was new didn't mean I'd back down from a challenge. Besides, I'd listened when we did the Mythology unit in class. Zeus was the king of the gods, Athena and Poseidon had a tetchy relationship, Aphrodite was cheating on Hephaestus with Ares. And so on and so on.

For a while, the blonde and I stared at each other. _The blonde and I_. A smile twitched at my mouth as I remembered the old dumb-blonde jokes kids used to tell. They didn't tell them anymore, though, at least not around me. I got a feeling that this girl disliked those as much as I did.

I zoned back in as Chiron rambled on. "...and your parent, Yvette, we don't know yet. But the gods promised Percy they _will_ claim you by tonight at the campfire." That was another thing. This _Percy_ popped up frequently in Chiron's speech. I wondered...

"You mean the battle," the girl said. "Don't forget, it's Capture-the-Flag tonight."

"Ah, yes," the centaur replied. "How could I forget? I trust you and Percy will be on the same team again. In the meantime, would you mind showing Yvette around Camp?"

"Not at all," she grinned. Her teeth were blindingly white. "I'm Annabeth. You can leave your backpack here and pick it up later, after you're claimed."

I nodded and dipped my head to Chiron, following Annabeth out onto the fields. I watched her as she pointed to various features of the Camp, highlighting the dinner pavilion, the stables, the cluster of cabins at the edge of the woods. I felt like I had gone back in time and stopped by the Greeks. White marble pillars and large buildings with porticoes and terrace windows. Very nice.

"So," I ventured. "Who is Percy?" Annabeth stopped and squinted at me. "What?" I asked. "Is he, like, a traitor or dead or something?"

What Annabeth did next was _not_ what I expected. She started laughing. "Percy… dead… traitor… Oh, gods…" I waited patiently, tapping my foot and glaring.

Finally, Annabeth calmed down. "Sorry. No, Percy isn't dead, Yvette. You saw him just when you came up the hill. Seaweed brain. I told him the monster was a _hippalectryon_, and of course he had to say, 'She totally owned that hippo.'"

"Oooh-kay. Is he your boyfriend, then?"

"How did you guess?"

"I saw you guys standing together. The others were all, like, making this special circle around you like you were the top dogs or something." I thought for a moment. "Chiron mentioned you've had 'a few eventful years.' Did anybody by any chance save the world?"

Annabeth whistled. "You're smart. Maybe Percy was right about you being an Athena child…"

"Can't be," I interrupted. "My mother's a journalist."

"Oh." Annabeth seemed disappointed for a minute. "Too bad. You would have made a wonderful addition to the Athena cabin."

"Why, thank you," I replied. "I am pretty awesome."

"And the definition of modest," she replied dryly. I only raised an eyebrow. _Lame comeback_. I would have said something like _Yeah, and you do have a pretty big ego_.

"Anyways," Annabeth went on. "About saving the world…

* * *

I nodded appreciatively. "Nice. That would make for an awesome job application. 'Saved the world twice, fell into Tartarus and survived, made the most kelp-headed boy in the universe understand that he was in love with her."

Annabeth stopped walking and glared at me. "On one side, I should probably kill or at least severely maim you for that. On the other hand, you're new. And you're a cynical blonde. And I like you and that's why you're alive right now. Blondes have to stick together."

She turned around and headed. "Come on, Yvette. I'll introduce you to the Hermes cabin and the Stolls. Hermes is the god of travellers, so they'll let you take part in their activities for today, until you've been claimed."

It was a while before I ran to catch her up. For one moment as Annabeth glared at me, I had seen a darkness deep inside her eyes, a darkness left over from what she had seen and experienced.

And I had no doubt that she could make that threat true. She would kill me without hesitance.

* * *

"Travis! Connor!" Annabeth barked when we reached the cabin. A moment passed, then the door opened to reveal two boys with identical curly hair, identical freckles and identical mischievous smiles. "Hey, Annabeth! Need us to take in Ivy?"

"Who's Ivy?" I asked. They both stared at me. One of them was slightly smaller than the other, I noticed.

"You're Ivy," the smaller one said, as if this was obvious.

I gave him my best _oh-you-are-kidding-me_ look. "Please. My name is _Yvette_. It's French for yew or archer."

"I'm Connor," the smaller one grinned. "That's South Andalusian for epicness!"

I just stared at him, unimpressed. "No. Just… no." His 100-Watt smile dimmed a notch and he stepped back.

"When you're finished trying to impress the lady," the elder one said teasingly, "I'll introduce myself. I'm Travis," he added. "The older, better, improved and ultimately more awesome version of Connor."

Then, he seemed to notice something behind my back. I turned to find his gaze fixed on a slim teenage girl with long, brown hair. "Hey, Katie! We're gonna own the Posthena team in Capture-the-Flag tonight! It's still on, right?"

The girl turned around, revealing leaf-green eyes. "First of all, I'm on Percy and Annabeth's team, so, no, we won't _own the Posthena team_. Second, you're a dork. Third, you're not even on the same team as me." She smiled again and waved goodbye.

Travis looked absolutely crestfallen. I stared at him. "Dude, that is quite possibly the absolute lamest chat-up line I've ever heard."

He stared at me for a moment. "Well, if you're so cool, why don't you give me another one?"

"Sure," I said, leaning forwards. "_Tell her the truth_. Or kiss her. Whichever you prefer." I turned to Annabeth. "You can go now. I think I'll manage it from here."

The blonde smiled at me, though her eyes still said: _I could kill you without messing up my hair_.

Then, she ran off.

* * *

**So, you like? Are they all IC enough?**

**It took ages to find the perfect name for Yvette (pronounce: eee-VET).**

**Also, I did promise she wouldn't date Nico. She probably won't even meet him.**

**READ & REVIEW!**


	3. III - ANNABETH

Disclaimer: I don't own anything except Yvette. (I think Riordan mentioned an Arts and Crafts pavilion somewhere, so I don't own that, either.)

.

**ANNABETH**

**III**

I had never seen anybody handle the Stolls so perfectly.

Okay, back up. When Yvette came up the hill, I thought, _Cool demigod_. She was a figure I would have liked to be friends with.

When Yvette stared back at me instead of glancing away as I studied her, I thought, _Brave girl. And stubborn_. I would have liked to know more about her. In fact, I instantly tried to figure her out.

With most demigods, this wasn't a problem. They had distinctive marks to them, either physically or mentally that showed within half an hour of conversation. If nothing came, they weren't a demigod.

But here it was different. Yvette had features of almost every god: Instant dominance from Zeus, Cynicism from Hermes and Hades and Nemesis, Wit from Athena and Apollo. I couldn't figure out who her father was, try as I might.

I have to admit, I was jealous of her. She seemed to see this as a game, an episode in her life like a child going through a phase where they became attached to everything pink. Or unicorn. Or barbie. Or other crap like that.

I sighed and kicked a few stones out of the way. I walked out of the cabin circle and into the woods, coming to a stop by the creek. I sat down, brooding over Yvette's godly parent in the peace and quiet of the woods.

"Guess who?" somebody's laughing voice asked, hands clamped around my eyes. I batted them away. "Seaweed brain, stop it."

Percy sat down next to me, an arm around my shoulders. "Actually, it's Percy. Though I would like to meet this _Seaweed brain_." I elbowed him playfully.

"So, what's Yvette like?" he asked, then shook his head. "Yvette. Weirdest name I've ever heard."

"She has the Stolls wrapped around her fingers. Seriously, no contest. The girl is _way_ more experienced in comebacks. Her name is French for yew or archer," I replied. Percy snorted. "Fits her. Do you have any idea who her godly parent is?

I sighed and lowered my head, letting my hair fall over my face. "That's the part where I have to pass."

"Hey," he said. "Why so sad all of a sudden?"

I groaned. "Yvette. I just can't read her. She's got traits, physically and mentally, of all the gods. She's sassy, good with comebacks, has a bow and isn't that bad with it, she's smart and witty and she uses that wit and then, of course, she's pretty thick-headed. Which reminds me of a person I happen to know…" I trailed off and glanced at him.

Percy laughed. "I don't think so. But we'll find out at Capture-the-flag, if not sooner."

I sighed. "I just… I'm a daughter of Athena. I should _know_ stuff like this."

"Come on," Percy said. "You found out your knife was the cursed blade before I did. You didn't give up when I was gone. You sent Connor a note on a napkin from Tartarus. You can do and have done more than anybody else in this entire universe. And tonight, you are going to show it by owning the other team."

I smiled. "You think so?"

He smiled. "Oh, this is going to sound totally cliche, but I know so."

"You're right," I said. "It did sound totally cliche. Now, about Capture-the-Flag… I think we'll take the flanks this time. Not frontal assault like we usually do. We get the bulk of our warriors to go through the middle, create a distraction. Then the two of us sneak around the border like this…" I drew a map in the dirt.

Percy leaned over. "See, this is what I mean. You always have a plan."

I smiled, brushing my finger lightly over the wet river soil. "And then we rendezvous at the nearest possible point to the flag, like so… And _voila_! We have the flag and get it out of the territory as quickly as possible."

Percy nodded. "Makes sense. See, my plan would have been the frontal assault again, but you've got them all tripping around in the dark."

"Why, thank you," I smiled. "Athena always has a plan, right?"

"So do you," he said and kissed me.

* * *

I carefully drew my pencil over the white texture of the construction paper, finishing the design. It was a new idea for a fountain I wanted to build on Olympus, much like the ones in New Rome.

I elbowed my younger sibling, Malcolm. He was the second oldest and my closest confidant next to Percy. "What do you think?"

"Ingenious," he said. "I would ask you how you keep coming up with all these ideas, but I am guessing that's top secret, right?"

"Not at all," I said, straight-faced. "The secret is to eat a lot of butter popcorn. You'll get major brain waves after about five years."

Malcolm shook his head. "Too long and too much a risk of getting fat. I think I'll stay healthy and eat low-fat yoghurt instead." He turned back to his design, a new, improved design for canoes. My brother insisted it was genius, wait until we tried them out. I did think it was rather weird, but Malcolm's ideas usually worked, so I had decided to trust him.

I rolled up the large paper to present at the big house. From there, it would go through Hermes' air transport to the official Olympian architects, who would then approve my work and make it a physical thing.

Glancing over to the other group inside the Arts and Crafts workshop, I realized that it was the Hermes cabin and with them, Yvette.

Curious, I walked over to her table. The kids were all laughing hysterically and Yvette was grinning from ear to ear. My daughter-of-Athena side whispered, _Look at all this mess and the chaos. There's no work getting done here_. I shook my head and took a peek at Yvette's construction paper. _Everybody is allowed to have fun sometimes_.

The blonde girl had drawn a scene in the woods, that much I could recognize. There might have been a creek flowing through the middle and there might have not. Yvette wasn't really much of an artist, and the paper was a little smudged, but she smiled and drew with passion, adding colors to the scenery.

The kids ran around her, teasing each other and stealing her pens. She laughed and slapped one of them on the hand before reclaiming her blue pencil from another. I found out that, yes, there was indeed a river - or a creek? - when she dragged the color across the afore-perfect construction paper. Brown and orange dashes covered the trees and olive and teal and lime was brushed into the leaves. Then, there were a few sparrows, maybe, and a squirrel on a branch.

Yvette signed the paper and gave it to a six-year-old, who immediately folded it into an expert paper plane.

I smiled as I watched her run over to save her masterpiece, the kid giggling and holding it out of her reach. Just before she reached him, he threw it into the air. The plane sailed past my face and through the air, doing several loops.

I was impressed by how long it stayed in the air, though I suspected there was a little Hermes magic involved. The small, white aircraft sank down gently on the Stoll table.

My smile was erased when I saw Connor's expression. Travis was joking with the others, building something that looked suspiciously like an exploding apple from glitter glue, food coloring, stencils and elastic bands, but Connor was sitting alone, looking gloomy.

He brought up a little smile on his face whenever his companions cracked a joke, but mostly he watched his brother's hands whirring around his project and occasionally sneaking glances in Yvette's direction.

It hit me then. _Oh gods, Connor likes Yvette!_ Maybe it was a simple crush, but maybe it was more. And if Yvette was a Hermes child, they wouldn't be able to date. Simple DNA science.

I felt sorry for them as I watched a disheartened Connor carefully pick up the plane and present it to Yvette. The blonde was still laughing with the little kid, but her face turned a little superior when Connor came over. "Thanks. I was wondering where David hid my forest." She poked the offending David's belly.

Connor smiled as the kid squealed. "Hey, we steal things. It's a Hermes thing."

Yvette smiled. "It's also _kind of_ illegal. That's why I don't steal. Or _borrow without giving back_." She put tiny quotation marks into the air.

Connor perked up a little. "You don't, uh… borrow stuff?"

"Never have, won't anytime soon." She waved and turned to find a very guilty David holding the two ripped pieces of her forest. "Oh… give me a break. Come here!" She ran after him, laughing.

Connor stood there, alone, scratching his head, probably trying to find out if this was a good thing or a bad thing. I turned and walked out of the Arts and Crafts building with my blueprint under my arm and mixed emotions in my brain.

_So if Yvette has never stolen anything in her life, this means it's very unlikely that she's a child of Hermes. I'm so happy for Connor! Although it doesn't seem as if she likes him right now… On the other hand, I still don't know who her godly parent is. Come on, Annabeth! Think! You should know who it is_…

* * *

**I hope you liked it!**

**Are Annabeth and Connor IC enough? Next up is Percy's POV!**

**READ & REVIEW!**


	4. IV - PERCY

Disclaimer: I don't own anything except for Titian, Ginger and Yvette. Oh, and that random blackberry briar.

**PERCY**

**IV**

The sun was sinking towards the horizon, turning the sea a startling combination of orange, purple and blue. A soft ocean breeze drifted over Camp Half-Blood, rattling leaves and lifting scraps of paper off the ground.

By the sword-fighting arena, a bunch of kids gathered for Capture-the-Flag. Torches were set up around the dusty area, flickering softly in the evening breeze. Armour clanked and shields glinted as they were raised. Everybody was checking their weaponry one last time before the game started.

I made my way over to the group of blond kids standing on the right side of the clearing. I checked my breastplate and greaves one last time, confirming they were right. If they weren't, Annabeth would just straighten them again, and it was so embarrassing when that happened.

I walked around, greeting people from the Athena, Demeter, Aphrodite and Dionysus cabins. There were also some Iris and Hebe campers, running around muttering buddhist good-luck mantras and showering random people with skittles.

I was about to give up and ask Katie if she'd seen Annabeth when a voice behind me said: "Nice of you to finally show up, Seaweed brain."

I turned around and kissed Annabeth hello. "So, everything ready?"

"All in order. We've got the flag next to a blackberry biar. The Demeter cabin will be guarding it. Meanwhile, Malcolm," she slapped her brother on the back, turning his attention to her, "will lead the Athena, Aphrodite and Dionysus cabins into battle. You and I will go around each of the flanks. The Hebe campers will scout ahead of me, and you get the Iris children."

I turned around to find two girls, both with straight red hair and "Peace" necklaces around their necks behind me. "Hi, Percy," one giggled. "I'm Titian!"

"And I'm Ginger," the other added. Their armor had been scrawled over with multicolored markers, forming rainbows and unicorns and weird slogans like, _Taste the Rainbow!_

I smiled, unsure. "Uh, hello. So… Have you got any experience at all?"

"No!" they both chorused and beamed at me as if this was the most wonderful news in the entire universe. My hopes sank. "Okay then. We'll be fine, though."

I turned to Annabeth. "Which color do we have?"

She smirked and handed me a helmet with a red plume. I grunted unhappily. I absolutely hated red. Enviously, I glanced over to the blue team.

"Campers!" Chiron the centaur clopped into the middle of the clearing. The clang of weaponry and the whisper of hushed voices instantly stilled. "All right, you all know the rules. No maiming, no killing, no bribing and no cheating! You must stand your flag on an easily accessible place! And remember to have fun!"

Some people smiled, though most Ares campers scoffed. Then, Chiron raised his arms and the conch horn blew. "Ξεκινήστε! You have five minutes to get into position!"

I charged into the woods at Annabeth's side, a dozen kids in Greek armor and a red flag trying to be as silent as possible while running at full pelt through the woods. Naturally, it didn't last long.

"Okay, red team. Gather!" Annabeth barked when we reached the blackberry briar. I watched as she effortlessly presented the plan to the group and made the campers obey her without even the slightest whisper of rebellion. Then, she turned to me. "Anything to add, Seaweed brain?"

"Be big and loud and distracting," I suggested. The red team raised their swords and yelled assent just as the conch horn blew from uphill.

"Okay!" yelled Annabeth. "Fight well and fight on! We'll win this one, no problems!" I nodded, kissed her, and we sped off in opposite directions after our scouts while behind us, the red team yelled and charged towards the border.

Oh, how wrong we were. How wrong.

…

I was beginning to get anxious.

The Iris campers hadn't encountered any difficulties yet, no traps, no guards, no nothing at all. I knew the blue team weren't expecting Annabeth and me to be at the flanks, but they had to have somebody there, even if it was just a lone swordsman. The whole setup smelled, looked and felt like a trap.

The Iris girls, of course, didn't get anything. They made slightly more noise than Hannibal the war elephant while trudging through the grass, giggling and laughing, their swords dragging through the earth behind them.

On the good side, it masked the sounds I made. Nobody would be able to hear whether I had dropped a pen when there were two perfectly good and very loud targets right in front of them. On the bad side, they might see the two and try to take them on from behind, which meant bad news for me. I couldn't hear anything over the giggles and tripping over their own feet, either.

We crossed the border. I tentatively sneaked over the stream, looking everywhere at the same time. Nothing moved in the darkness, nothing lashed out and attacked me. I let out a breath, thinking, _It's okay. They didn't have a plan. We're totally alone and-_

That was when I heard a thunk. I instantly dropped to my knees, alert for the slightest sound. The night was cold. In front of me, I could still hear the giggling, although it was more quiet now. _The Iris girls must be getting further away._

And that was when I heard the second thunk. And suddenly, I couldn't hear anything anymore. And I realized that I was in very deep trouble. I couldn't see anything now, sneaking through the bushes in total darkness. Nobody there, nothing at all. I bounded forward silently. One moment, I thought I heard something, like a creak. I froze, but all was silent. Somehow, that was even scarier than noise.

"Titian? Ginger?" I called softly. "Come on, where are you?"

Then, suddenly, I spotted something through the hazel branches. Behind the elm tree, two pairs of feet poked out into space. I ran over to see the two Iris girls sprawled out on the ground, matching bruises blossoming on their foreheads.

Next to them, lying in the dirt, were their helmets. And sticking out of each of the helmets was what looked like…

I often said afterwards that this was when everything happened. I leaned forward slightly to try and see the long objects clearly, my heart pounding as my head moved to the side a few inches…

Which was why the arrow missed its target.

A _whup_ of air flashed behind my head, scratching my helmet and instantly whirling it off my neck. My crown was twisted around as the metal clanked to the ground. I cried out in pain, rubbing my neck. "Ow! What the…"

In the moonlight, my helmet rolled over the soil to present a golden arrow with two neon green fletchers and one white.

_Arrows…_

And suddenly, I knew who it was.

Somebody above me uttered a muffled curse. "Fudge!"

I swung around and studied the tree, but everything was silent. The archer had obviously remembered that they weren't alone here. I squinted up the tree trunk. _There, in the crook between that branch and the trunk…_ I uncapped Riptide and it grew to a full-size, glowing celestial bronze sword.

I threw it into the air like a giant boomerang.

True, my aim had never been the best, but this was a fairly short distance and I had gotten better during my various attempts at saving the world. Riptide swung through the air, a deadly glowing blade and sliced through the branch the figure was sitting on. Then, it flew on and landed further away in the bushes somewhere.

I had about half a second to congratulate myself before something hard crashed down on my head.

"Aargh!" I doubled over, clutching my head. My fingers probed something warm and wet on my forehead. Blood. The thing that had hit me clattered to the ground just as the person slammed into the forest floor. "Oof!"

I groaned and managed to shake the dizziness from my head. The person next to me groaned, too, as if she were agreeing with me and tried to sit up. I stood there shakily, and while I had no weapon, I knew I had the advantage. I should run out of here right now. I was already running late for the rendezvous point.

But something made me stop in my tracks. I waited for the person to sit up and took a step forwards, but my foot bumped against something and it rolled into a patch of moonlight. It was a hunter-green compound bow.

"My bow!" The figure in the dirt scuffled forwards and grabbed the weapon, slinging it over her shoulders. She stood up instantly, as if having the bow rejuvenated her. "I should fine you for that! Compound bows are freaking expensive! It's your luck the thing didn't break!"

"Oh, so it's my luck your bow didn't break," I replied. "Well, I guess it's not important that your bow nearly broke my head!"

The figure stepped forward, into the moonlight. It was Yvette, no surprise there. She winced when she saw my injury. "Sorry." She sounded as if she sincerely regretted it.

I still wasn't thinking straight. "So, are you going to let me through or do I have to knock you out?"

She smiled, apparently feeling superior again. "I don't see how. You're unarmed and you're in my territory. So," she triumphantly replied, unsheathing a small knife from her waist, "you should probably turn around and start running right now."

I grinned in the darkness. Yvette couldn't see me, but her smile suddenly dropped a few notches as if she sensed something. "Tell that to Riptide here." I took the pen out of my pocket and uncapped it. Riptide sprang to full-size glowing sword form. Very impressive, if you're a rookie demigod at least.

Yvette stumbled back, her eyes narrowing. She wasn't giving up so easily. "You're that guy. Percy Jackson, if I remember correctly."

"You remember correctly. Though certain people take pleasure in calling me Peter Johnson." That comment put her off, and I was able to turn away the quick strike of her knife with my shield. "Nice one, though. You're Ivy, aren't you?"

She darted to the side and stabbed at me ferociously. "What is up with everybody calling me Ivy?!" I blocked another strike and swung my blade, but she ducked and, using my shield as leverage, somehow swung herself over my head.

I swished around, cutting through the air. "Nice move."

"I thought so." _Dammit!_ Her voice was just a little to the right from where I had thought she was. "Also, you should know that my name is Yvette. Eee-VET. The last syllable is almost silent."

I swung again and she shrieked. "Aargh! " For a moment, I felt sorry for her. She was only a newbie, like I had been once, and here I was, pulverizing her just like Clarisse had done for me.

Then, something hacked through the shadows into my arm. "That was my best T-shirt!" shrieked Yvette. I butted her in the head with my shield and she collapsed back into the darkness, bushes rustling erratically around her.

I followed her out of the shadows. Suddenly, the bushes dropped away from around me and I found myself bathed in dusty moonlight. The pebbles, the stream, every tiny fibre in every tiny leaf was coated in liquid silver.

Yvette stood in front of me, one arms hanging useless and clutching her dagger. Her other hand was clenched around her arm in an attempt to stem the flow of blood. I picked my way leisurely towards her. It was too late to catch up to Annabeth now. She had probably already won and was celebrating and wondering where I was. I could take my time teaching this kid a lesson. "You know, monsters rarely listen to trash talk."

"Like I care!" Yvette spat at me. "Come at me! I am going to hurt you so bad for ruining my shirt! That was from my mom! Do you have any idea what it's worth to me?" I sighed.

"No, I don't. I'm just trying to tell you…" I was cut off by her spitting, "Well then. Come on and fight me." She turned around and ran towards the stream.

I figured, What the heck? If Miss I'm-so-sassy wanted a fight, she could have it.

"Bad move," I chuckled. "The water is where I fight best."

And I reached deep inside myself and called up the ancient power of Poseidon from the depths of the stream.

* * *

**So, there you have it. Cliffhanger!**

**In Google Translate, the Greek word Ξεκινήστε! means Begin! And fletchers are what we called the feathers on the arrows, but apparently the internet doesn't like that translation. Oh, well, who cares.**

**So, what is going to happen next. Come back tomorrow and find out! READ & REVIEW!**


	5. V - YVETTE

Disclaimer: I don't own anything except Yvette, Titian and Ginger. Oh, and the fact that there is a stream next to a hazel bush next to an elm tree.

**YVETTE**

**V**

Everything was absolutely fine until _Percy Jackson_ had to come along and ruin it all. I had been assigned border duty on the outer flank. Connor Stoll himself had told me that nobody was going to come through there, and if somebody did, I would shoot them with the special, heavier arrows the Apollo campers gave me.

So, I was sitting up there, in a tree and contemplating my first day at Camp Half-Blood. I had called my mother in due course during the afternoon. She had been intensely worried, but I could hear her relax quite a bit when I mentioned Camp. So she knew about all this. All this time, she knew. Serious words would be traded.

Right now, though, I was perched up high in a tree with a view both of the almost full moon and the forest floor below me. I wondered who my godly parent was. My mother said she hadn't known, though I didn't believe her. She should have at least known the colour of his hair!

Just as I was contemplating my impending doom - ahem, sorry, claim - I heard a whisky, whispery noise that didn't fit in with the sounds of the night.

I shifted a little on my perch, carefully sliding an arrow out of the belt loops on my jeans and nocking it. I squinted down at the forest floor and was surprised to see two girls, both barely older than me, giggling and tumbling dizzily out of the darkness. I was about to call out to them before I remembered something an Ares camper had told me: _Don't ever let your guard down. Some people here will rely on tricks. If you see something that's harmless, it's gonna be the most dangerous thing ever, trust me._

I shot of my first arrow, nailing one of them on the forehead. Her helmet rolled off, revealing a lovely purple bruise. No time to think. I whipped out another arrow and clumsily threaded it onto the string. _Aim, calculate, breathe in and out… Shoot._

The second girl fell, the two now presenting a weird pair on the forest floor. I was about to lean back when I heard something.

"Titian? Ginger? Come on, where are you?" _You're kidding me. There's another one?_

I watched something rustle below me in the darkness and come to a halt beside the two girls. No time to lose. I yanked my last arrow out of my belt loop and nocked it. _Breathe in and out. Focus. Aim and calculate, and you won't miss._ I shot the arrow, just as the mystery guy leaned to the side. I missed, almost.

The arrow almost missed the guy completely, but it just scratched the surface of his helmet, the momentum carrying it off his head. "Ow! What the…"

In the moonlight, his helmet rolled over the soil to present a golden arrow with two neon green fletchers and one white.

I swore. "Fudge!"

The figure swung around and studied the tree. I covered my mouth, hoping, hoping for the best… But the best didn't happen. Instead, a glowing bronze blade seemed to grow out of nowhere, momentarily illuminating a boy's face before he threw it into the air like a giant boomerang.

I was a wise move, in the long run. The celestial bronze sliced through my branch and I fell, losing my grip on everything, including my bow.

Below me, I heard a clang, then an exclamation of pain. "Aargh!"

Then, I crashed onto the forest floor. "Oof!"

The figure in front of me moaned in pain. I groaned in agreement. _Ouch._ Through a haze of pain, I heard him stand up and… nothing.

Suddenly, I heard a muffled clunk and something rolled towards me. A hunter-green compound bow.

"My bow!" I slid forward and stood up, instantly feeling much braver. "I should fine you for that! Compound bows are freaking expensive! It's your luck the thing didn't break!"

"Oh, so it's my luck your bow didn't break," the mysterious boy replied. "Well, I guess it's not important that your bow nearly broke my head!"

I stepped forward into the moonlight, wincing as I saw the glistening blood. "Sorry."

The figure huffed like an animal. "So, are you going to let me through or do I have to knock you out?"

I smiled. I wasn't out of tricks yet. "I don't see how. You're unarmed and you're in my territory. So," I replied, unsheathing a small knife from my waist, "you should probably turn around and start running right now."

In the darkness, I couldn't see much, but maybe the boy grinned. I stepped back.

"Tell that to Riptide here," he told me, and, making a weird motion with his hand, summoned a full-length Greek sword from nothingness. I stumbled back, regrouping. _I'm not giving up that easily._ "You're that guy. Percy Jackson, if I remember correctly."

"You remember correctly. Though certain people take pleasure in calling me Peter Johnson." My hand slipped and my dagger clashed against his shield instead of into his arm. Screw it! "Nice one, though. You're Ivy, aren't you?"

I darted to the side and stabbed at Percy, growling. "What is up with everybody calling me Ivy?!" He blocked my strike and swung his sword, but the thing about glowing swords is, you can see them. And easily avoid them. I ducked and sprang up, somehow landing myself by his back.

He swished around, cutting through the air. "Nice move."

"I thought so." No need to let him no I had no clue what I'd done. "Also, you should know that my name is Yvette. Eee-VET. The last syllable is almost silent."

He swung again and this time, I didn't duck quickly enough. "Aargh! " I screeched as blood flowed from my shoulder. Fear quickly turned to rage as it soaked through… into my shirt. "That was my best T-shirt!" I shrieked at him, hacking away. Something hard bonked into my head and I stumbled back, out of the shadows.

Suddenly, the bushes dropped away from around me and I found myself bathed in dusty moonlight. The pebbles, the stream, every tiny fibre in every tiny leaf was coated in liquid silver.

I groaned and clutched my wounded arm. Bushes rustled as Percy approached leisurely, swinging his sword with one hand like a cane. "You know, monsters rarely listen to trash talk."

"Like I care!" I spat, adrenaline pumping through me. "Come at me! I am going to hurt you so bad for ruining my shirt! That was from my mom! Do you have any idea what it's worth to me?"

He just sighed. "No, I don't. I'm just trying to tell you…"

I cut him off, spitting, "Well then. Come on and fight me." I turned around and ran towards the stream. The next thing I heard was a chuckle.

"Bad move," Percy said. "The water is where I fight best."

I dug my heels into the ground, but not quickly enough. The calm moonlight shattered as water convulsed out of the stream, churning into a huge pillar. I had an idea what it would do next, and it wasn't going to be pleasant.

The rotating pillar was about to crash into me when I darted to the side and ran over the stream. I swear, my converse barely touched the water. Then, suddenly, I was on the other side. _What the heck…_

But Percy wasn't slowing down. In fact, the pillar accelerated and slammed into me, splaying me out into the stream and soaking me. I stood up and convulsed with shivers as Percy made his way to me. "You coming out?" he asked, lending me a hand.

The pillar turned into a whirlpool around me. I looked at his hand, than at his eyes, shivering all the while. _Is he… enjoying this?_

I know, I wasn't thinking rationally. Percy was a good guy. But right then and there, I was beaten, tired, starved, cold and wet, and I sure as heck did not like bullies. Those thoughts spiralled around in my head as I stared defiantly at Percy. _I am not weak I won't give in You can't make me do something I don't…_

I yelled in defiance and the river exploded.

Percy was carried backwards, but caught his footing almost immediately. He stood on the surface of the water, his sword in one hand, his expression slack. "How did you…?"

I didn't reply. I didn't even give him time to think. My brain went on autopilot.

Without missing a beat, I summoned my dagger from the water. My converse ran naturally over the surface. Percy was still older than me, still more experienced, but now I had the power. I was the one in control. And the river churned around me, sensing my mood and attacking Percy.

I surged forward, my dagger striking against Percy's sword. He stumbled back while I pushed on, the river's power around me, beside me, inside me. I slashed and hacked, vaguely aware that there was a crowd gathering around us of people whispering and staring. The blonde girl, Annabeth, was holding a blue flag in her hand and gaping.

I slashed at Percy with my dagger. He managed to turn my strikes away effortlessly, but he seemed taken off guard, as if he wasn't used to somebody being as powerful as him. I grinned as tendrils of water snaked around him. He tried to turn them away, glaring at them, but the river was under my control now and fought back against him.

I only had one thought in mind: _Kill Percy Jackson._ Wait, what?

And suddenly, I came to my senses. The river stilled and Percy relaxed, though he was still looked at me like I was a zombie. I looked around, breathing hard, my feet balanced perfectly on the surface of the water. The campers around us whispered.

Suddenly, people's eyes widened. I frowned and was about to ask what was happening, but before I could speak, the campers crouched to the ground and bowed. I wondered what they were bowing at until I saw Percy staring at something over my head.

I looked up to see a green holographic sign twirling over my helmet, already fading, but unmistakable. A three-pronged trident.

I went into shock as the centaur, Chiron, cried out: "All hail Yvette Meyers, daughter of Poseidon."

I had been officially claimed. _Oh, joy._

* * *

**And, scene!**

**So, I just had to squeeze Yvette's view into that chapter. And before you guys start hating on me, I know Percy is an awesome fighter and that nobody, not even Annabeth can actually beat him, though she comes as close as it gets. And he wasn't actually overwhelmed by Yvette. He would have been able to win this battle, if he hadn't been so taken off guard. And this is what I wanted: A standoff between the two Poseidon kids.**

**Well, on a less psychological note, next up is Percy's POV. And let's see how he sees the fact that he's got a sister!**


	6. VI - PERCY

Disclaimer: Rick Riordan has not given me the honor to be the author of the series. Yet. I don't own anything except Yvette, the throne and the game room.

**PERCY**

**VI**

I stared at the glowing holographic symbol twirling above Yvette's blue plume. I couldn't process what was happening.

_Sister._ That one thought jarred me through and through. I had always been an only child, and I did love my half-brother. But this was something else. _My sister._

I was vaguely aware of Annabeth standing next to me. Next to her, Connor Stoll whispered: "Can I just say, that was the most epic standoff since when Annabeth and you were on different - urk!" Annabeth rabbit-punched him under the chin without looking to the side.

Yvette seemed just as awed as everybody else. Slowly, still holding her dagger in her hand, she turned and looked at me. I swallowed. She grinned at me. "Hey, big bro. So where's your cabin?"

"Um," I said, my lingual functions only just returning. "I'll show you." I turned to Annabeth and took in the blue flag in her hands. "So, we won?"

"_I_ won," she replied, smirking. I could see she was still rattled, though. "_You_ weren't there to help us."

"Hey!" I protested. "Yvette caught me in the act! Oh, right, and you might want to check those bushes for the Iris girls. She knocked them out with the arrows."

Annabeth smiled down at Yvette. _At my sister._ "We got ourselves a talented water-bender here."

I wanted to protest, wanted to say that I was talented, too, but Annabeth kissed me goodnight before I could make sense of what was happening. "See you tomorrow." I mumbled something and, motioning for Yvette to follow, trooped confusedly towards the Poseidon cabin.

* * *

My new sibling looked around. "Nice place." She perused the stone walls inlaid with shells, the stainless steel bed frames, the shimmering blue-green sheets. I scratched my head, thanking the gods I had cleaned up for cabin inspection earlier today.

"Yeah. Which bed do you want? There's a lot of them open for rent." She looked around, then threw her bow on the one furthest away from me. "No offense. Just never shared a room with a boy before."

I nodded. This was going to be a little awkward. I left to shower while Yvette unpacked. I came out about fifteen minutes later, fresh and clad in pyjamas, to find her perched on her bed, looking at a photo.

I walked over to her. "Is that your mom?" The photo showed Yvette and a woman who looked almost like an older version of her, except with brighter hair and no freckles on her face. Yvette sniffed. "She knew. She knew about Camp, so she must have known who my father was. But, she didn't tell me. No, my father was a one-night thing. I hate grown-ups."

"Hey," I said. "My mother didn't tell me, either."

She gared at me. "Whatever. Is the bathroom free?"

I nodded and walked to my bed as the bathroom door slammed behind me.

* * *

I heard Yvette - _my sister_ - breathing regularly, her windpipes echoing loudly through the cabin. Unlike me, she seemed to have no trouble at all falling asleep. I had never shared room with anybody before. It felt unnatural and weird, knowing that somebody - a girl, of all people - was sleeping a few metres away from me.

_I hate grown-ups._ Yvette's words swirled in my mind. I disagreed with her. My mother hadn't told me Poseidon was my father, but I still loved her. _My mom._ And suddenly, my brain swirled out of control.

What had Poseidon called my mother? _A queen among women._ And to think that, by that time, Yvette must have already been born! He had praised my mother while at the same time having already betrayed her. I glared at my pillow, as if it was the stuffing's fault my whole life had taken a twist.

Finally, I couldn't stand it anymore. I threw back the sheets, tugged on some jeans and a T-shirt, put Riptide in my pocket and sneaked out of the cabin.

* * *

The Long Island surf was pretty calm tonight. The waves barely reached my chest as I waded in and dove into the water, instantly shooting forwards like a bullet. I uncapped Riptide, to scare off any monsters that might be hiding in the dark. Not that I was totally blind underwater: I could sense, almost see the ocean currents, warm and cold, all flowing over one another and molding into one another.

I shot straight through all of them, my body doused in alternating warm and cold currents as I ripped through the narrow coral passages.

I floated over fields of waving seaweed and ducked under branches of coral. I didn't really know where dad's palace was, since I'd only been there once, and I gotten there by sinking unconsciously to the bottom of the ocean. I followed my instinct as much as my internal compass led me to the deepest part of the ocean.

After an hour, I had to admit I was thoroughly lost.

I sat down on a rock and waited for a friendly shark to come by, glancing gloomily at my surroundings. Maybe I should give up. Maybe I should go back to sleep and pretend nothing ever happened.

_NO._ I was _not_ going to let Poseidon off the hook. This was the best time to catch him and I was not going to give up just because I was hopelessly lost.

Lost, eh? I whipped up my sword, but relaxed when I saw a great white shark. "Oh, it's one of you guys. Hey."

_Hey, indeed_, the shark thought at me slyly. _What does the lord desire? Perhaps you would care to join me in my cave?_

I had my sword underneath his gills in less than a second. "Celestial bronze may not be able to pulverize you, but I can do without it. I've got all the power I need right in the tips of my fingers."

The shark tried to surreptitiously paddle back. _Ahem, yes. How can I help you, my lord?_

"I need directions to Poseidon's palace," I growled at him. "These rocks all look the same to me."

_Ah, but they aren't_, the shark mused. _Funny thing, how-_ I glared at him. He gulped and pointed a fin to the north. _Just over there. Swim in that direction for as long as you can and eventually you will find the emperor's palace._

I nodded, twirling my sword around in my fingers. "Thanks. And one tip," I leaned forward so he could hear me. "Lose the attitude. Some people who aren't as nice as me would have long since chopped you to Sushi."

_Please, everything but that. Everything but Sushi jokes! I'm out of here!_ The shark vanished into the depths. I grinned, glad to teach sealife some manners and shot off towards the north.

* * *

I knocked on the great, intricately carved abalone double doors that presented the entrance to Poseidon's underwater palace. The sandstone pillars on either side of me were carved just as masterfully, making me feel very small and insignificant.

I felt even more so when the doors opened and I saw who had opened them. My half-brother, Poseidon's heir and lieutenant, Triton.

He hadn't changed his appearance one bit since we last met: He was still a green-skinned merman with two tails instead of one, which gave me a headache when I thought about it. His hair was black and braided back. His expression was something in between 'grumpy' and 'I-want-to-kill-you'. His scowl deepened when he saw me. "Well, well, well. The boy decides to show up. What bad news have you brought us this time?"

I sighed. "Look, I'm sorry if you don't like me, but I have to talk with dad."

"You are not allowed to speak with _Poseidon_ at this time. He is busy," Triton replied, his sneer deepening.

He started to close the great abalone doors, but I made the currents push them open. "It is urgent."

He sighed and rubbed his face. For a moment, he just looked like a young, tired boy with too much responsibility on his shoulders. Then, his face hardened. "Fine. Follow me and do not touch anything."

I have to admit, it was hard to obey that order. As we swam along giant hallways of coral, stone and marble, merpeople swished past us. They had grey skin and glowing yellow eyes, with crooked, broken teeth.

I watched as they swam past us with spears and swords in their hands. Whenever they saw Triton, they would go instantly from what they were doing to bowing down to the floor. One dude who was polishing a pearl lamp actually jumped off the ladder and hit his head pretty hard, but the merman ignored him.

Displayed on the walls were curiosities: Statues made from brightly coloured coral, a bowl full of luminous, pearlescent shells, an old rusty sword recovered from a shipwreck. They all looked awesome and I had to restrain myself from abandoning Triton and touching the exhibits. Something told me that wouldn't make for a good impression.

Finally, Triton rounded a corner and swam gracefully through a wide arch that was studded with silver and paua shells. I drifted after him and was instantly wowed.

Poseidon's throne room was the biggest in the castle. It was about the size of a football stadium, with alternating paintings, frescos, and floor-to-ceiling windows, which seemed kind of a waste to me since there was nothing to see outside except mushy blue-green.

At the end of the room stood a large throne made from shells, rocks, seaweed, silver and what looked like a dead squid. And sitting on this throne, conversing with a dolphin, was my dad. Poseidon.

Triton cleared his throat and Poseidon looked up, his mouth crinkling into a smile when he saw us. "Percy! How wonderful of you to visit."

He turned back to the dolphin. "Yes, I quite like this design. Lord Delphin. The game room, though, needs to have a little more… well, _relaxed_ feeling. I believe the teenagers today call it _chillin'_. Might be a good idea to have some ice-themed interior decoration."

The dolphin nodded, somehow jotting down notes on a sheaf of seaweed. It chittered something and swam off, pausing to bow before leaving the hall.

Poseidon turned to us. He stood up and instantly changed from ten feet tall to human size. "Hello, Percy. I haven't seen you for quite some time. I trust all is well at Camp Half-Blood?"

"Yes, everything is cool," I said, reigning in my temper. "Could I talk to you… alone?" The Lord of the Seas glanced at Triton, who bowed. "As you wish," the merman said, throwing me a contemptuous glance before paddling out of the hall.

My dad turned to me, the smile gone from his face. "What is it, my son? Did something go wrong at Camp?"

"See for yourself," I replied, tossing a drachma in his direction. "Oh, goddess, accept my offering. Camp Half-Blood, the Poseidon cabin."

Halfway between me and the now thoroughly confused god, the water hazed over and a dark image appeared. There were the indistinct shapes of the my bed and the Minotaur horn on the wall, and of more beds, all perfectly made. All except for one.

Poseidon leaned closer. "Is this…?" Then a series of expression ran across his face like a movie on a screen. Realisation, Shock, Disbelief, Joy, Sorrow, Shame. They were all present.

My mood didn't change in the slightest. I stood by, my face immobile, watching as my supposed _father_ made sense of it all, tapping my foot against the polished floor. Which is pretty hard to do when you keep floating off the floor.

Poseidon sighed wearily and stood up. "I thought Yvette might turn up soon." The way he said _Yvette_ led me to believe he'd been practicing the pronunciation.

"So you know about her," I said. "Was her mother a 'Queen among Women', too?"

Poseidon sighed. "Percy… You know how the gods are. We cannot change. We are immortal deities. Our faults and our virtues are carved in stone. We are doomed as much as we are blessed by this."

I raised an eyebrow. "You're doomed to cheat on people? Hard luck." My father sighed. "I understand if this is hard for you-"

"Hard for me? Not at all! I just wish you'd respected my mother a little more when we talked about her! Is that too much to ask?"

Poseidon studied me and I got the distinct feeling that he was disappointed. I didn't care, why should I? "Your anger is clouding your judgement. I urge you to go back to Camp and if you do not return within a week, I will conclude the matter is closed."

I furrowed my brow. "What…?"

He touched my forehead and a heavy, drowsy feeling overcame me. "Sleep well, my son, and may the next day bring new feelings."

I tried to protest, but I was too tired.

I blacked out.

* * *

The conch horn tooted through the valley.

I shot up in bed, the covers billowing up to either side of me, giving me the impression for one moment that I was still underwater. I shook my head confusedly as the sheets slowly drifted back down to reveal the walls of my cabin. _How did I get here?_

"Whoa!" I swung around as Yvette sat up in bed, her hair a messy explosion of cotton candy. "I am _not_ used to that!"

I threw off the covers and stood up. "We have half an hour until breakfast to get ready, then we do activities until lunch, and after lunch we have free time until dinner. It's lights out at ten o'clock, otherwise the harpies will eat you."

She nodded a couple of times. "Breakfast, stuff, Lunch, free time, Dinner, lights out. Got it. Who gets the bathroom first?"

"You go," I offered. Really, there wasn't much else I could do. If I had said I would go, then my _sister_ would have written me off as greedy. And I wasn't greedy. I was just… miffed that Poseidon had dishonored my mother.

After half an hour of trying not to run into each other and awkwardly brushing our hair and dressing, we were ready for breakfast. I was usually a little late, since I liked to sleep in, but Yvette seemed like a morning person. She bustled around the cabin in a shirt that said: _OMG: No one cares_.

The conch horn blew again and I led my sister out into the morning sun, to the dining hall.

* * *

**Yay!**

**So, the psychological part is that Percy shouldn't feel jealous, I know, because gods have kids with mortals every few years. BUT, somehow I always imagined that Percy would feel cheated if he found out about a sibling, because Poseidon seemed to care so much for him and his mother. So Percy is used to being an only child and, yeah. Now, he feels like Poseidon dishonored his mother. I _know_ this subject was addressed in The Sea of Monsters, but I frankly DON'T CARE, because this is my fanfic, not yours.**

**I know that Yvette should have been mentioned in the Great Prophecy if she was 'real', but just ignore that, please. And NO FLAMES!**

**READ & REVIEW!**


	7. VII - YVETTE

Disclaimer: I don't think I'm Rick Riordan. Except maybe I have multiple-personality-disorder, and sincerely doubt that. I don't own anything except Yvette and Maddy.

**YVETTE**

**VII**

I was just immersed in a vibrant dream of Justin Bieber being killed by fluffy bunnies when the conch horn tooted through the valley.

"Whoa!" I sat up stock-straight in bed, the blue-green covers around me rippling. "I am _not_ used to that!"

Now would be the perfect time to say that for a moment, I didn't know where I was. Well, I am not going to say it, because it's a silly writing cliche and it never happens to people in real life. I instantly remembered where I was and I wasn't too happy about it.

Percy stood up and yawned. "We have half an hour until breakfast to get ready, then we do activities until lunch, and after lunch we have free time until dinner. It's lights out at ten o'clock, otherwise the harpies will eat you."

I nodded, storing the terms in my brain. "Breakfast, stuff, Lunch, free time, Dinner, lights out. Got it. Who gets the bathroom first?"

"You go," he offered. He seemed kind of pissed off about something, so I only cocked my head, scraped a few clothes out of my backpack and headed for the bathroom, locking the door for extra security.

My hair was a total mess, like always, and I took me a good long time to comb it through. I washed my face and threw on jeans and a light blue tee printed with the words: _OMG: No one cares_. You need some sassy in your life to scare the bullies off.

Percy was still disgruntled when I came out of the bathroom. I motioned to him that the shower was free and threw myself onto my duvet, taking out my drawing pad.

Yeah, it was kind of the only thing still in my backpack from when the hippalectryon decided to start chasing me and Grover out of the gym, where the Archery group was currently holding a lesson and all the way across Manhattan.

Grover had somehow distracted it long enough to hail this weird, grey taxi cab - he called it the Grey Sisters taxi - with three old hags who were almost blind steering it. Yeah, not a good idea. Anyways, I'd been sketching for about five minutes. It was coming into shape - a young woman in a Greek _chiton_ sitting on a rock in the middle of the sea, crying silver tears into the waves around her. Did I mention I have a big imagination?

The conch horn blew. I grimaced and put my sketchpad away, reluctantly.

Percy turned around and beckoned me out onto the porch into the morning sun. I skipped lightly onto the floorboards and stood next to my new _brother_, watching as a hundred or more kids filed in crazily entwining lines towards the dining pavilion outlined against the rising sun.

I was still enthralled by the sight when Percy jumped off the porch and filed naturally off, waving Good Morning to his friends. I gasped and ran after him, puffing to catch up. The guy was fast! I was led only by the occasional hearty laugh or a flash of ebony hair over the heads of some other kids.

After a few minutes, I was thoroughly lost in the throng and pretty mad at my bro. _It's like he just forgot about me in one second!_ Was that even allowed? I stumbled and almost drowned in a sea of legs trampling down their designated paths. Nobody paid attention to me, the single standing out in a flood of groups. I tried to make some noise, but to no avail. Something hit me in the shoulder and I went flying - straight into a pair of arms.

"Woah there!" Connor Stoll grinned at me, his impish smile reaching from one corner of his face to another. "A little help there, M'lady?"

"Get off me, you creep," I said, stepping on his foot. He winced as his siblings sniggered at him. "Fine. Where's Percy?"

"That's what I'd like to know. He ran off somewhere and I can't find him." Connor's face darkened considerably. "Hey, are you okay? You look like you want to kill something."

"I do?" Connor put on an unconvincing surprised face. "Uh, I don't know what you're talking about. You can come with us if you want to and we'll show you the Poseidon table."

I considered for a moment. I had spent the last day with the Stolls, and they were good company, whereas Percy seemed a little… well, brooding. I didn't know why everybody hated the Stolls and loved Percy Jackson. "Okay, I'm coming."

"Cool!" Connor motioned for me to join him and his friends. I stepped forward and was instantly admitted into the group. _Hermes_, I thought to myself. _God of travelers_. That was more me than Poseidon was, if all Poseidon did was brood.

"Hey Yvette," called one of Connor's sisters, Maddy. "What are you going to do with Percy when you find him?"

"Kick his ass," somebody suggested. I laughed. "With all due respect, I think he's a better swordsman than I am. Also, I am not that sporty."

"I could teach you," Connor offered. Travis snorted. "Teach her what? You can't even hold a sword up for more than a minute." I watched with an expression of slight bemusement as the two traded insults with one another.

Maddy tapped my shoulder, her deep green eyes twinkling. "The Poseidon table is over there. Also, the plates and the goblets are enchanted. You tell them what you want and they conjure it up for you."

I nodded, narrowing my eyes when I spotted Percy. "Thanks. See you, boys," I added to the Stoll brothers, who were still bickering.

"Bye, Ivy," called Connor. I turned around and glared at him. "It's _Yvette_, Mister!" He gulped. "Yvette. Got it. Bye, Yvette!"

I turned around wordlessly, shaking my head. My sights focussed on Percy and I gritted my teeth. Time to see what Annabeth's seaweed brain had. I skipped over to the table, feigning a casual smile. "Hey."

Percy looked up from a plate full of blue pancakes and what looked like blue maple syrup. I sat down across the table from him, studying my goblet. "Huh. I think, maybe… I want Hot Chocolate." The goblet was instantly filled with a steaming, caramel concoction. "And an apricot bagel." A bun full of golden jam appeared on my plate from thin air. I poked it with one finger. Crusty flakes fluttered off the hot bread. "Intriguing."

Percy stared at me, syrup dripping off his chin. "I take it somebody told you about the magic plates?"

"Yes," I said with a bright smile. "The Stolls invited me to join them after I _lost_ you."

He nudged the blue pancake on his plate. "Yeah. Sorry about that…"

An awkward silence followed, in which I 'obliviously' enjoyed my bagel. "Why is all your stuff blue?" I asked after a little while, motioning to his plate.

Percy cracked a grin and for the first time, I saw what others saw in him. _Happiness, kindness, cheerfulness…_ I knew why everybody liked him now. "My mom had this big fight with my stepdad once," he told me. "He insisted there was no such thing as blue food. So from then on, she started making blue food whenever she could, just to prove him wrong." He frowned suddenly, looking bemused. "Jeez, I haven't thought about Gabe in months. How time flies when your stepdad gets turned into a statue."

"Say what now?"

He laughed and told me the story of how he had killed Medusa and left her head for his mom to use on Smelly Gabe. I smiled when he told me about his new stepdad, Paul Blofis. "Blofis? From Blowfish?"

"I called him that, too, at first. But the guy is pretty nice. He does deserve my mom, unlike Smelly Gabe."

"I think I would like your mom," I told him. I felt at ease for the first time since I had known him. Maybe having a sibling wasn't so bad…

That feeling vanished when a series of expressions flitted across Percy's face, too many to count them all, most of them bad. "Yeah," he said shortly. "She'd love you."

He didn't say a word for the rest of breakfast.

The warm feeling inside me had vanished.

* * *

**Oh, no! What are we going to do about this? Wait till tomorrow to find out. I will be back with my daily update, as always. Thank you to everybody who has read and reviewed this story!**

**Thanks especially to my friend, Annabeth Chase 712. She is really nice and has constantly reviewed this story! She has also written a cool AU story for the PJO fandom titled _The Marks_. Read it, it's really good!**

**So, the psychological part, as always, for you guys who couldn't really follow my train of thought: Percy is not used to having a sister around and just assumes that she will know her way around, since it has been several weeks since new campers have arrived, as hinted in Chapter 1. So, he follows his usual morning routine which basically involves trying to find the Athena cabin and hanging out with Annabeth until they get to the Athena table. He doesn't get lost in the crowd like Yvette, because a) he's really tall, while Yvette isn't exactly a giant and b) he's used to doing this and knows how to handle it. So Yvette basically turns down Connor's 'courtship' when he tries to crack a joke and goes to breakfast with the Hermes cabin. This symbolizes her not really feeling like a Poseidon kid yet, since Percy is a little hostile towards her. She fits in perfectly with the Stolls and their friends. When she gets to the table, she and Percy have some brother-sister bonding time, in which Percy talks about his stepdads and Yvette laughs and they share some fun together, but then Yvette mentions Percy's mother and since she represents the dishonor of his mother by Poseidon, Percy immediately gets all clammed up.**

**Oh, how I love psychology! Not really.**

**READ & REVIEW!**


	8. VIII - YVETTE

Disclaimer: I am not Rick Riordan, contrary to what you may believe. I only own Yvette, Moonlight, the Archery Range, the way Lee Fletcher looks (I think this was how he looked, but I'm not sure) and the flash cards.

**YVETTE**

**VIII**

The first activity we went to was the sword-fighting arena. Percy took a pen from his pocket and uncapped it, showing me how Riptide grew into a full-length sword from this action. "First rule of battle: Never leave your weapon unattended. Second rule of battle: Be wary of any tricks the opponent may pull on you," he said, flicking the sword point up to my neck.

I sighed and put my hands up. "Am I actually allowed to get a sword before we start?" He nodded. "Sure."

I chose a long, thin blade that shimmered strangely in the morning sunlight. The base colour seemed to be silver, but when I tilted it, strange, golden beams of light reflected off it. I swung it around experimentally, smiling as it glinted brilliantly white in the morning sunlight.

I traced an inscription near the leather handle: _Selinofoto_.

"Moonlight," I said. "Wait, how did I know that?"

"All demigods are dyslexic; it's because our brains are hardwired for ancient Greek," Percy explained. "That sword? Thalia, the lieutenant of the Hunters of Artemis blessed it when she got beaten by a Hermes kid wielding it. Everybody's been whispering that the sword got magical powers after that. But all it does it gleam nicely and put everybody around it in awe."

I twirled the leather grip in my hands. _A little magic, huh? Just what I need_. "Can I take it?" I asked aloud. Percy looked startled. "Uh, sure. It hasn't been claimed by anybody as their own yet, so you're welcome to it."

I stood with my legs apart in front of him and pointed the tip at him. "Okay, then. Engarde!"

Percy smiled and swung gently, Riptide and Moonlight colliding. Even though he was swinging slowly, my arm bent under the weight of the strike. "Always put force behind your strike! Never hold your arm stiff like that, it takes too much strength!"

I nodded and dealt a forehand strike to his chest, which he easily warded off with an expert twist of Riptide. Moonlight was flung back, leaving me unprotected. Percy pointed his sword at me. "Try again."

I got into fighting stance, randomly copying an Ares kid next to me. This time, I attacked, flinging a backhand blow at his thigh, but he jumped over it and hit Moonlight away so hard I spun in a dizzy circle before coming to a halt. "Oh, gods."

"Nice fighting," somebody called. I looked behind me to see - you guessed it - Connor Stoll waving at me. I glared at him. "Well, look at you. Come to make fun of my name again?"

He put his hands up. The armour he wore was a little too big for him, and his arms weren't exactly muscular, more like spindly. He had long fingers. "Okay, I'm sorry for calling you Ivy. And I'm not making fun of you, that was pretty good."

"Would you like to spar with Connor?" asked Percy. He looked a little more sober now, the smile gone from his face. I shrugged. "Sure, if you don't mind losing a partner."

He grinned at me. "Oh, don't worry. I've got a partner - the best there is, in fact."

"Is that so, Seaweed brain?" I looked around to see Annabeth, the blonde Athena chick, approaching us with her armour shining and her dagger in her hand. "Why don't you ever tell me that to my face then?"

Percy grinned, flicking up his sword. "Is that a challenge?"

Annabeth didn't smile. I got the feeling she wasn't one to joke around battles. "May the gods finally make their immortal minds up about who's best."

Connor sat back onto one of the benches. I frowned at him. "Weren't we going to spar?"

He smiled and shook his head, pointing at Percy and Annabeth. "You have _got_ to see this."

* * *

I was still in awe. "Wow. You just… wow. And you're not even breaking sweat."

Percy shrugged as we meandered towards the Archery range. "Sword fighting is just what I do. It comes naturally. I don't think about it, except when I'm fighting Annabeth and she has a million faults to point out. But, well…" He shrugged. "It's me."

I smiled. _Yvette, you got yourself a philosopher brother_. "Well, now you get to see what's _me_."

In front of me, the trees opened up and Percy and I stepped out into the Archery range. It was a large, dusty space with only a few trees at the edge so that the archers could stand in the shade while shooting. There were targets set up at various distances, all full of arrows.

There were some kids shooting, mostly from the Apollo cabin, I think. Some were shooting at targets on high stilts, while others were combing fletchers and honing arrowheads to deadly points.

I walked over to the archers. One kid with dark skin and dreadlocks spotted me and waved us over. "Hey, Percy, Yvette. I'm Lee Fletcher," he told me, shaking my hand. "So, do you want to shoot with your bow or would you like to borrow one of ours?"

I looked at the exquisitely tailored bows all hung up on their racks. "I'm not sure if I should. I might break them."

"Oh, no," Lee protested, throwing me one with a kind of wavy pattern carved into it. "I made most of these bows myself. They wouldn't break even if Clarisse jumped on them."

I shrugged. "Okay…" I took a quiver with six arrows in it and slung it around my waist, walking over to the other archers. Percy came over next to me, holding a nice bow but looking unhappy. "I was never good at Archery."

"Oh, don't worry so much. Life's good!" I smiled at him and took out one arrow.

"Bows on toes!" bellowed Lee. Everybody's bows were balanced on their feet. "Six arrows, fire at will!" I nocked an arrow, aimed at the target nearest to me, and shot.

It landed in the red ring around the yellow bull's eye. _No time to think._ I nocked another arrow. The next two landed in the red circle again, and the fourth pierced the bull's eye. I smiled and shot the last two arrows, tallying up my points. Two bull's-eyes, four red circles. _56 points. Nice going_.

I turned to Lee. "This bow is good. You're from the Apollo cabin?" He nodded. "Your dad must be proud."

He winked and yelled: "Bows on toes! Archers, collect your arrows!" Twenty kids slung their longbows over their shoulders and sprinted out onto the field to retrieve their arrows. I turned to Percy, who was looking at six arrows which were stuck in the dirt in front of him. "Yeah, I hate Archery."

I sighed in sympathy and collected my arrows.

The hour progressed quickly this way, though I always felt a little sorry for Percy when he tugged the fallen arrows out of the dirt. Lee showed me how to shoot flash-bang arrows, too, how to properly take care of my bow, and even showed me one of the legendary hydra arrows.

"These are immensely hard to aim since they're very heavy and also kind of bendable, so only the best archers use these. I've only ever shot one once," Lee winced, "and I almost missed.

"Jeez, they must be _really_ crappy," I sympathised, looking at Lee's target. He had legit Robin-Hooded all six of his arrows. If _he_ had problems with a hydra arrow…

The conch horn blew. Percy grimaced. "We're gonna learn Ancient Greek now. I absolutely hate those lessons."

I patted him on the back and we walked over to the pavillion at the edge of the woods.

* * *

"And this," Malcolm droned, "is the letter Omega." He held up a cardboard flash card printed with one letter: Ω

I was bored out of my mind, but I needed these lessons. If I listened closely, Malcolm assured me, I would be able to read an adventure novel within a year - without getting much much as nauseous.

I didn't really believe him. It sounded a little too much like those hocus-pocus miracle cures in books: Abra Kadabra and you're back from the dead. _Yeah, right._ Then again, these lessons also taught us about all the monsters we were likely to meet in the mortal world, and I sure as heck did need that.

Percy yawned as Malcolm flicked up another flash card. "This is the letter psi," he enunciated, showing us the symbol: Ψ

"Hey, that looks like Poseidon's trident," Percy quipped, instantly perking up. Malcolm frowned at him. "It's not a trident. It's the letter psi, the equivalent of the sound 'ps'."

"'Ps'? Is that even a legitimate sound?" I asked, trying not to grin. Malcolm cleared his throat. "Yes, it is. This card set has been approved by the goddess of wisdom, Athena herself."

I looked at the sorry pile of smudged-up cards lying next to him. "Yeah, for some weird reason, I can't picture that." Percy snorted.

Malcolm _ahem_-ed. "Can we proceed with our lesson, please?"

I mimicked him, proclaiming grandly: "Yes, you may proceed." Percy laughed so hard, he keeled over. I grinned at Malcolm, shrugging.

"Okay!" he shouted. "We only have five minutes left, so we might as well make the most of them!"

"In my opinion," Percy smiled, sitting up, "we might as well pack up. I don't think you can teach us any more stuff in five minutes."

Malcolm brandished a piece of cardboard at him. Yes, he looked truly terrifying, Yes, I was joking just then. "I can teach you what you already know. Behold, the most known symbol of all: Pie!" He flicked up the symbol: Π

"That's an arch, not a pie," I told him. Percy cracked up.

Malcolm sighed. "It's Pi. P-I. Not pie. Twenty-two divided by seven, remember? The number with 1.24 trillion decimal places?" He stared at me with wide eyes, like, _Come on, you have to remember this_.

I just stared back at him until the conch horn rang, signalling the start of lunch. Percy punched the air. "Lunch! Victory of food!"

I smirked at Malcolm and picked up my block of paper. "Thanks for the lesson anyway." I waved at him and followed a whooping Percy to lunch.

* * *

It was beautiful.

Not lunch, you idiots! The lake!

I perused the still, clear surface that reflected the sky. Around me, small ripples ran over the crystal as my canoe cut through the water.

Around us, a multitude of greens and browns stood at the water's edge, shimmering reflected in the lake. I sighed and urged the boat on with my mind. No need for paddles or anything like that.

Percy took a deep breath. "I like to come here. It's nice and quiet." I nodded and brushed my hand over the surface of the water, gathering up a floating bubble that danced over my palm. "Intriguing." I threw it at Percy, who rolled his canoe upside-down to escape it. My water balloon splashed into the water further away. I laughed and waited for my brother to come up.

He didn't.

Hesitantly, I flicked my wrist in a circular motion. The canoe spun around in a barrel roll. I furrowed my brow. Percy wasn't inside. Slowly, I leaned to the side. My canoe flung itself upside-down, spilling me out into the water.

It was awesome. I could see so sharply , the bubbles dancing around me, the tiny silver fish swishing away from me, the turquoise light that bathed everything. I laughed aloud and my voice echoed tinnily through the water.

_Beautiful, isn't it?_ I spun around, trying to find the source of the question. Suddenly, something moved and I spotted Percy waving at me from the sandy bottom. I hesitated, then urged the water to carry me over. I shot forward and came to a halt in front of him, the blue-green ripples of light still wavering around us.

Suddenly, I had an impulse. It just hit me out of nowhere, and I unsheathed Moonlight. I paused. This couldn't possibly work, but… _Want to spar?_ I asked.

_Sure_, Percy's thoughts hit me. _You're going to lose, though_.

_I know, all right?_ I thought back at him and struck out Moonlight. He countered easily, Riptide growing out of nowhere to protect him at the last second. Moonlight glanced of the bronze sword.

I swung two times, backhand and forehand, back and forth. Percy guarded with ease and counter-attacked, bringing Riptide down over my head. I gasped and shot out of the way, my pulse quickening. _You almost killed me!_

_But I didn't_, he countered and swung again. I blocked and struck. He parried and attacked. I managed to turn the blow away and delivered one of my own. _Good_, I heard him think. _Remember the second rule of battle, though_…

Suddenly, the water under me rushed up. I shot straight up, too fast to even comprehend what was happening. The lake's surface shattered into a million infinitesimal bits of liquid glass as I shot up, landing on the forest floor, drained and tired.

I coughed up water as a shadow fell over me. "Hey, you okay?" I glared at my feet. _Oh, gods, no_. I lifted my gaze up to a grinning Connor Stoll. He stretched out his hand for me to take. "Nice dive. You should compete in the Olympics." He laughed as if this was the best joke ever.

I stood up, batting his hand away, ashamed he found me like this, getting owned in my own element. Speaking of… I glanced down at my boots, concentrating, The water ran off me and into a puddle at my feet. I was perfectly dry.

I looked at Connor. "Why are you stalking me, again?" He gulped. "Uh, stalking you?"

"Hey, Yvette!" Percy called. He came running over the lake. "You okay?"

I sheathed Moonlight, glaring first at him, then at Connor. "I am perfectly fine, thanks for asking. I'm just… I am going to my cabin. Alone," I put in and turned back, grinding all my shame into the dust under my heels.

Behind me, I heard Percy ask Connor: "Now, what are you doing here?"

* * *

**_AWKWARD!_ So we come to the end of another chapter.**

**In Google Translate, the Greek word (σεληνόφωτο/seli̱nófo̱to) means Moonlight. I have no idea how it's pronounced, but lets just say Seh-lee-noe-FOE-toe, okay?**

**The way the Archers at the range are shooting is how we shoot at school. We start with the tips of our bows on our toes, then pick them up and take three arrows, firing at will. After everybody has finished, we stand our bows back on our toes, just to check, and then we can collect our arrows. I have no idea how bad Percy shoots, but I usually hit the red ring around the bull's eye.**

**The symbols for the Greek letters are from a Wikipedia chart. I am not taking the responsibility for any inaccuracy. Thanks to the series Don't call me Ismael for the information in Pi. It's really good, read it!**

**The psychological part: Percy and Yvette have more in common than they might think: They're both sassy, have a good sense of humor and morality, and they're both headstrong. Percy, deep down, already likes Yvette and accepts her as his sister now, but on the outside, he's not ready to admit it, and it doesn't help that she keeps being seen by everybody as 'perfect' in his opinion. At the end of this chapter, we encounter Yvette's fatal flaw (every hero has one and I _did_ promise she wouldn't be a Mary-Sue, didn't I?) and she walks off, ashamed, after encountering Connor, who she thinks is stalking her. We all know why, don't we. (Ooh, I've kept that promise, too!)**

**I will name Yvette's fatal flaw eventually, so don't comment about it, I will get to it!**

**Hm, I think that's everything. See you tomorrow for the next chapter!**


	9. IX - PERCY

Disclaimer: I think, therefore I am. But I am not Rick Riordan. (It rhymes!) I own Yvette, Moonlight, the Archery Range and the flash cards! Just to be clear, this is the NEXT day.

**PERCY**

**IX**

I kept forgetting I was supposed to hate Yvette, but when she stormed off, it all came back. I frowned and recapped Riptide, putting it in my pocket. Suddenly, I registered Connor standing next to me, watching Yvette run away. "Now, what are you doing here?"

He glanced up. "Huh? Oh, I… I think I'll go."

He hurried away. I shook my head and went to find Annabeth.

* * *

"Guard! Strike! Parry! Guard again!" I was trying to teach Yvette to spar. She was pretty fast, her blonde hair whipping around her face as she put all the force possible behind her strikes. They still didn't affect me.

She tried holding me at a distance with Moonlight, sticking the tip far out and holding me away from herself. Her shirt today was lime green and said: _I ❥ NOTHING_.

I parried a strike and counter-attacked, hitting Moonlight's hilt and knocking the long, thin blade from her hands.

Yvette huffed and picked up her sword. I blinked as it flashed in the sun, momentarily reflecting a highly concentrated beam of light into my eyes. My sister stood up again, her breath fast and shallow. "Man, am I out of shape. Engarde," she added with not much conviction.

I disarmed her in five moves. The spectators all hooted, clapping. Yvette's face was blank, but I sensed that she was a little ashamed of being beaten again.

Then, somebody called out: "Nice sparring, Yvette!" I turned to find Connor. My _sister_ grinned and picked up Moonlight. "You want to spar?"

He shrugged. "Sure, if Percy's okay with it?" I nodded, my smile gone. Yvette looked like she was going to say something, but desisted. I watched as the two took up matching fight poses and began sparring with equal clumsiness.

People around them applauded and moved on, smiling. I studied the two, thinking that they could become good friends. Though how Yvette managed to-

"Hi, Seaweed brain," Annabeth said. I spun around. "Oh, hey." She kissed me. "So, watching them rock off?"

"Why do people suddenly think Yvette is so cool?" I asked her. "I mean, it's not like she can do stuff better than you or I can!"

Annabeth studied me. "Are you jealous?"

"Jealous? NO! I just…" I sighed. "Yes, I'm jealous. Why does everybody instantly like her just like that?"

"Yvette is new, Seaweed brain. She's different, she took the whole Gods-are-real thing like, _Yeah, whatever_. People respect her for not freaking out. Okay, maybe she did freak out, but she doesn't show it. They just think she's got a great attitude."

"What makes her so much greater than me?" Annabeth sighed as the conch horn blew through the valley. "I have to go. Think about it."

* * *

Archery was even worse. I was fumbling with the arrows, trying to get the fletchers to clip onto the string while Yvette shot one arrow after another, hitting at least one bull's eye every time. I groaned as an arrow slipped out of my hand. "Crap."

I bent down to pick it up, but Yvette held me back. "Don't. Most important rule of Archery: _Don't pick up any arrows that have fallen into the shooting area._ Just leave them there. It's safer that way."

I nodded and tried not to blow right then and there. Yvette shot another arrow, piercing the red ring. I grunted, nocking an arrow and drawing the bow to my cheek. I aimed for the nearest target and released my hold on the string, but in doing so, I jiggled my aim around. My arrow flew over the target and stuck in the mud behind it.

Yvette shot a bull's eye. I looked at my watch and groaned. Half an hour to go. _This is not going to be fun_, I thought, watching Yvette shoot her last arrow and smile when it stuck in the red circle.

* * *

"Now," Malcolm said, "let's see what you remember from yesterday." He held up a flash card with a Greek letter on it: Λ

I racked my brains. "Uh…" I looked over at Yvette. "You got any idea?"

She frowned in concentration. "I think it was L. And it was called something like… lamb, I think."

Malcolm flicked over the card. Printed on the back were the words: _L - lambda_. I stared in disbelief.

The son of Athena nodded. "Well done, Yvette. Now, which one is this?" Again, I was stumped as he held up another random symbol: Ρ

"I'm guessing that's a P," I said. _Really, it's obvious_. But Malcolm shook his head. _What?_ I frowned as he turned to Yvette. "Do you know?"

"It's an R. And the Greek called it rho." Malcolm smiled. "So Poseidon's children aren't genetically lingually impaired." He turned the card around: _R - rho_.

"Hey!" I protested. "I do know some!"

"What's this, then?" He held up a symbol I recognised from dusty walls, a faint blue glow on Annabeth's laptop: Δ

"It's a delta, the symbol of Daedalus," I proclaimed triumphantly. Malcolm turned to Yvette: "And what letter does it stand for?"

"It's the Greek version of D," she told him. The son of Athena nodded and took out another card, displaying it to us: Χ

_What, no 'Well done' for me?_ Gods, I was pissed now.

The conch horn rang, just as Yvette told Malcolm: "Chi, the symbol for X." Annabeth's brother nodded and shuffled his cards. "Nicely done. We will continue this tomorrow."

_As if I didn't know that_.

* * *

I put my arm around Annabeth. "The sea does always look nice in the evening."

She smiled and gazed out at the choppy waves, the wind blowing her hair back. "Yes, it does. How did things go with Yvette today?"

I sat down in the sand with her next to me. "Not so well. First, we did sword-fighting, which you came to see and then, well, everybody applauded for her and Connor even though I won the battle against her. So after that, we did Archery and I swear, she got at least one bull's eye every freaking round."

Annabeth smiled sympathetically. "Some people are good at Archery, and some people are better at sword-fighting. We can't all be perfect."

"Exactly! I just have the feeling that everybody is treating Yvette as if she's perfect even though she isn't," I argued. "Like, when we were learning Greek, she knew all the answers and Malcolm stopped even asking me for them."

"You're overreacting," Annabeth told me. "It's just a phase. And, not everybody thinks that Yvette is so cool. The Aphrodite kids hate her because of how she treats the boys."

I snorted. "Is that a fact?"

"Yes, it is, Seaweed brain. And I think, you're suffering from sibling jealousy. You've always been a single child, which is why you aren't used to sharing. Life is weird. It randomly decides to teach us lessons, and it's just given _you_," she poked me, "one major test. If you fail, well…" She trailed off.

I groaned. "Why can't life be easy?" My girlfriend grinned at me. "Hey, a demigod's life is never easy. Besides, if your life had been easy from the start, you probably wouldn't have been a half-blood and met me. So there are some things that are desirable about a hard life."

"Yeah, life's good," I said kissing her. "So, what do you think I should do about Yvette?"

"Get to know her," Annabeth suggested. "Ask her about her family, her life, what she does all the time. I'm sure something will pop up."

I sincerely doubted that. "Fine," I told her. "I'll talk to her later."

* * *

"Hey," I said, walking into my cabin.

Yvette was lying on her bed, reading. "Hey…" I looked closer. It took me a while to decipher the title of the book. "Homer's complete works… in Ancient Greek?"

"Yeah," she said, her eyes bright. "My internal translator is pretty quick on the draw. The stories are interesting, too…" She went back to reading.

I watched her, just sitting there, casually reading a book that had given me headaches for a year before I could halfway understand it. _She is _not _a Poseidon kid_. I trudged to the bathroom, muttering. My sister - Yvette - looked up. "Everything okay?"

"Yeah, totally fine," I grumbled and slammed the bathroom door.

* * *

The rest of the evening wasn't that great, either. I snapped at Yvette when she asked if the bathroom was free, yelled at her to hurry up when the dinner bell rang and didn't talk to her at all the entire time at dinner.

After lights out, I couldn't fall asleep for a long time.

In the morning, I felt miserable. What was worse was that Yvette seemed to have picked up on my mood and projected it over to me. Her tee, incidentally, read: _I NEVER LIKED YOU ANYWAY_, which made me feel a little creeped out.

The blonde grumbled and talked back at me whenever I said something to her, turning the most harmless comment into an accusation. One time, I asked her how her bagel was, and she replied: "Since when do _you_ care, huh?"

Sword-fighting wasn't much better. I disarmed her every time after hardly ten blows, and everybody was watching. After some time, the cheers for Yvette turned into sniggering whenever Moonlight clattered out of her hand. Finally, she threw her arms up in frustration. "I am so _done_ with this!"

Everybody around us quieted down. Yvette glared at them. "Oh, you can go back to doing whatever you were doing before you started wasting your time laughing at me!"

The kids all mumbled and started filing awkwardly. My sister glared at me. "I am so over you being all grumpy to me! What the hell is your issue anyway, mister?"

I backed off. "Oh, I'm sorry! Should I go easier on you when we're sword-fighting?"

She started to say something, then broke off and wrung her hands. "GRRR! I hate being a demigod!" She threw Moonlight down into the dust in front of my feet and stalked off. I picked it up, turned around and walked in the other direction.

* * *

I sat alone at lunch. I hadn't seen Yvette since her outburst that morning. Since then, I'd had five people, mostly Connor ask where she was and if she was okay. I replied that I had no idea, getting more annoyed each time.

Now I sat alone, miserably playing around with my blue pork chops and mashed potatoes and wondering where the heck my sister was.

"Hey, seaweed brain," Annabeth smiled, sitting down next to me. "Hey," I replied, sticking my fork into a pile of mush and kissing her. "How's it going?"

"Good," she said, studying me. "You didn't talk to her last night, did you?" I hesitated. Her voice became more urgent. "Did you, Percy?"

"No, I didn't," I said, sighing. "I assume you heard about our little… _fallout_ in the morning?"

"You guys are all over camp," she told me. I groaned. "Seaweed brain, you know you've _got_ to talk to her. It's the only way to fix this."

"But I don't know how! All my life, I've never said sorry to somebody because I've never had to! It's just… I don't have any experience!"

"There's always a first time," she said, standing up. "Remember, there is always a way for those smart enough to find it. Athena's own words."

I sighed, stood up and walked off in the direction of the forest.

* * *

**Ooh, scary. What's going to happen next? Come back tomorrow for the daily update!**

**The rule of not picking up an arrow once it has fallen into the shooting area is real. I should know.**

**Now, for the psychological examination by Dr Dr Bright: Yvette and Percy do have a good sister-brother relationship, but after their unfortunate sparring incident at the end of the last chapter, Percy is determined to not like her. This is encouraged by how supportive and friendly the other campers are to Yvette, and how she fits in naturally, Percy feels jealous of her while fumbling for arrows in Archery, and is downright stunned by how good she remembers the letters in Greek. This effectively pisses him off. He talks with Annabeth after this, who barely persuades him to talk with Yvette so they can settle their differences. But when he walks into the cabin, he finds Yvette lying on her bed, reading a book in Greek. His jealousy immediately flares up again, and he starts to become unfriendly towards her. Yvette catches his mood and where she was supportive of him before, becomes likewise unfriendly. This is mostly because she is a character who will defend herself in a battle of words. It's just her. Finally, when her fatal flaw just becomes to much for her at sparring, she throws down her sword, which symbolizes that she is DONE with Percy and after a heated debate, stalks off. Percy doesn't see her for the rest of the day, until Annabeth persuades him to go into the woods to check on her. He is worried about her, even if he won't admit it, and complies.**

**I am so out of breath after writing this. My story is becoming deep!**

**Thank you to everybody who has read and reviewed this story! READ & REVIEW!**


	10. X - YVETTE

Disclaimer: I own Yvette, Moonlight, the river bend, and the tarantulas.

**YVETTE**

**X**

I was lying on my stomach on a river bend. The water under me flowed smoothly as I lounged on the currents, immobile. I had put my Ipod on full blast, the tiny speakers overloading with the soundtrack.

"_So stand in the rain, stand your ground! Stand up when it's all crashing down! Stand in the rain, you won't drown, and one day what's lost can be found!_"

I nocked an arrow and shot it at a nearby tree. It pierced the middle of the black-haired, green-eyed stick man I had drawn on a piece of paper. I shot another. It took out his right eye.

"I hate demigods!" I muttered, shooting another arrow. "I hate sword fights! I hate my freaking dyslexia!" Two more arrows, two arms gone. "I hate Connor! I hate Lee! I. Hate. Freaking. Percy. _Jackson_!" The arrow stuck in the wide open smiling mouth I had drawn on my phantom brother.

"_She wants to be found… The only way out is through everything-_"

"Ugh!" I screamed, grabbing my phone. "Don't I have any other songs?"

"_What doesn't kill you makes you stronger, stand a little taller! Doesn't mean I'm lonely when I'm alone…_"

I sniffed. "Yeah, but the crap you get sure hurts a whole freaking lot before you do get stronger. Thanks for leaving that important detail out, Kelly." I killed the sound and scrounged another arrow, shooting it at the sky. "I hate ALL OF YOU!"

The arrow screeched into the air, then turned around as G-force pulled it down and came bearing down on me. I glared as it splashed into the stream two meters away from me.

"Here you go," a voice said. I shrieked and lost my control on the river, splashing into the water below me. I came up perfectly dry, glaring at the person. Oh, gods. It was Percy Jackson. _Great. Now if I could just find an arrow to shoot at him…_

My brother held out his hand, the arrow dangling from his fingers. "You dropped this." I glared at him. "Yes, as a matter of fact, I did. Now, why don't you start laughing like you always do when I do something totally stupid."

He looked around, taking in the Ipod with the words, _Stronger - Kelly Clarkson_ scrolling over it and the little representation of him, pierced with arrows. I stared him down defiantly. "Wow. I must really have been an asshole."

"That's what I've been trying to tell you," I told him, rolling my eyes. "So, what are you going to do now? Walk away because you've realised you were an asshole and you think you can get away with it because you saved the world?"

He shook his head. "You are so much like Annabeth." I smirked. "I get that a lot. I must be really smart, then."

"Okay," Percy said. "Why I came here is… I'm sorry."

I blankly stared at him. _I am _not_ making this easy._ "Sorry for what?"

"Sorry for being such an idiot."

"And?" I raised my eyebrows.

"Sorry for being jealous of you, for being impossible when we were sparring, for bothering you when you were reading, for snapping at you, for yelling at you, for being a closed door around you."

"And?"

He thought for a moment. I sighed. "For saying sorry too many times in the last ten minutes."

He looked at me in disbelief and then laughed. "That mean I'm forgiven?"

I punched him in the arm. "You wish." But I didn't mean it and he knew it. I motioned for him to sit down next to me. "So, what persuaded you to confess?"

He laughed as the trees rustled around us. "Annabeth told me I was getting jealous. I learned a long time ago never to question Annabeth. She's scary when she gets mad." He shivered.

I snickered. "Oh, gods, you're scared of your girlfriend."

"Well, Connor's scared of you, too, so I don't see what your problem is." I stared at him, flummoxed. "Who? What? Oh… I'm not Connor's girlfriend!"

"Not yet," he smirked. I growled at him. "Jackson…"

"Seriously, you should see the way he looks at you…" Suddenly, I noticed something. "...Like a lost puppy…" There was no wind, the air totally calm. So why were the leaves around us still rustling?

"Percy!" I snapped.

"Oh, come on, don't tell me you didn't get it! He is so into you!" I gritted my teeth. The rustling was louder now. "First, you sound like an Aphrodite kid. Second, there-"

"I am not an Aphrodite kid, I'm just talking sense!"

"Percy."

"No, really, he likes you, I swear."

"Percy!"

"Did you see how relieved he was when you weren't in the same cabin as him?"

PERCY JACKSON!"

He paused. "Yes?" The bushes exploded. I nocked an arrow and aimed at his head. "Duck!"

He ducked and I shot.

The arrow went straight through the ghostly grayish-red horse that had been about to bite my brother's head off. Percy gasped and staggered upright, his pen-sword Riptide growing to full length.

I nocked another arrow and backed against a tree, swaying my bow around to try and hold the horses at a distance.

There were three of them, all thin and almost skeletal, their bony ribs protruding from their flesh like daggers. Their hides were greyish-brown, and they had dirty red manes. Most terrifying of all were their eyes and the teeth. Their eyes were pure glowing red, while their teeth were speckled with the leftovers of previous… meals.

I gulped. "What the crap are those freaks?" The horses neighed and I staggered back as a wall of terrifying images hit me. _KILL! KILL! KILL!_

Percy winced. "We can talk to horses! It's a Poseidon thing, so don't insult them! I think they're Tarantulas!"

The horses hissed and I lowered my bow. "Say what?"

He held his hands up. "Hey, I'm doing the best I can! I don't remember everything I ever learned in Ancient Greek like you do!"

"It's short-term memory!" I yelled and shot an arrow at one who seemed to be more daring than the others. The celestial bronze passed right through it. The horse looked down, like, _What happened?_ Than, it bellowed and sprang at me.

I yelped and ducked, thinking I was about to be crushed under a disgusting pile of bloody grey material. Instead, I opened my eyes to find the Tarantula had passed right through the tree behind me.

I gasped and pulled Percy to the side as another monster sprang at him. Riptide passed right through it and it crashed away to the side. I threw down my bow. "It's no use! Those things, whatever they are, they're invulnerable! We can't defeat them!" Our only hope is to run and see if the others can help us!"

Percy glanced at the trees around us. "We'll never make it. And even if we did, I doubt they'd have a solution. We would just be showing the Tarantulas the way to an All-You-Can-Eat buffet."

I stood there, breathing hard, as realization hit. _I am going to die._ I groaned. "Look, I wasn't going to say this to you, but I'm sorry for being impossible, too."

Percy leaned against the tree, warily studying the last Tarantula as it circled us, waiting for the others to come back. The leaves rustled around us. "It doesn't matter now. We're going to die anyway."

"It _does_ matter," I insisted. "I don't want to die knowing I never said sorry." Percy - my brother - looked at me and smiled weakly. "Okay. Apology accepted."

I nodded and watched as the two other Tarantulas slouched into the clearing, huffing. I was treated to the full squint-glare as their glowing red eyes turned on me and I got the feeling I was going to be the first to die because I had shot two arrows at them.

And though I knew I was going to die, I felt strangely calm and relaxed. I knew who my father was. I knew what my purpose in life had been. And… I glanced at Percy, who was still glaring at the monster, as if trying to stare it down. _Not going to work, big bro_, I thought indulgently. I had found a brother who would never give up.

Even though it was hopeless, he was still grasping at strings. I shook my head and leaned against the tree. We would need magic powers to get us out of here. Suddenly, my foot shifted and bumped against something. I looked down and saw it there, lying gleaming in the grey-brown dust, like a pearl casket in a pig sty.

Moonlight glowed faintly against the vague background, its silvery blade gleaming gold as sunlight spattered through the leaves. _Magic powers…_

The Tarantulas hissed, their patience gone. _Die, horse-speakers!_ And all of them pounced at once.

Percy tried to push me behind, but I kicked him back and swung Moonlight in a shining, brilliant arc. I closed my eyes as the monsters flew towards me in slow motion. _Thank you, mom. Thank you, dad. Thank you, Percy… Thank you, Connor._

Then, there was a hiss and a flash of light so violent, my eyeballs almost got fried even though I was squeezing my eyes tight shut. I was still breathing hard, crouching in a defensive position in front of a gasping Percy. I didn't think I was dead.

I opened my eyes to paradise.

As soon as Moonlight hit the Tarantulas, they had exploded into fine, silver-grey dust which coated every pore of my body and the clearing now. Moonlight was the only thing still clean. I swung my hand through the air, catching some of the shimmering fairy dust in my hand. I heard Percy gasp as he opened his eyes, too.

"Well done." I spun around to see a man in Bermudas and an Hawaiian shirt patterned with tridents, holding a bigger version of the trident in his right hand. Percy's voice sounded behind me. "Dad?"

I put my hand in front of my mouth. "Poseidon?" The middle-aged man nodded at me, his sea-green eyes twinkling with… pride? He had wild, black hair and a trimmed beard, and it struck me how much he looked like Percy. "Right. You meet my mom, vanish seemingly forever, leave us alone to cope, and then show up thirteen years later to tell me you're proud of me. Guess what: I don't care."

Poseidon leaned towards me and for a second, I sensed his power, the concentrated purity of it he held. I almost stepped back. _Almost._ He studied me with those sea-green eyes. "I see what my brother means."

"Excuse me?"

Poseidon rapped his trident on the pebble beach. "Zeus has a peculiar way of thinking that our children reflect our different moods and powers. While Percy here is the embodiment of choppy waves and strong, sure currents, my other son, Sciron… he is more the stormy, unforeseeable waves that smash ships against cliffs. That one is a wily one, I'll say."

I was almost too afraid to ask. "And me? What am I 'the embodiment of'?" I mimicked him, making quotation marks in the air with my fingers.

Poseidon smiled down at me. "You are the fjords, the rivers and the bays. You are the sand and the pebbles and the seashells. You are calm, and you are fast. You are witty and your mood changes like the tides do. That is you."

I had never felt happier in my life. Then, Poseidon dipped his head to Percy. "I see the matter is closed." He disappeared in a warm, salty breeze.

I turned to Percy. "What matter?"

"Nothing," he replied. "I like seeing dad. He doesn't often show himself."

"Well, I suggest we show ourselves to the other campers. They might be worrying about us." He nodded and picked up my bow while I collected my arrows and sheathed Moonlight, pausing to stare at the glimmering name engraved at the handle: Selinofoto.

"Magic powers, indeed," I whispered and smiled at the sky.

* * *

"Oh, gods, where _were_ you? And what happened to your clothes?" Annabeth shouted at us as we emerged from the dappled shade of the forest.

Percy and I grinned at each other. "It's a long story."

The campers all insisted we tell it. Percy got all excited and played up the part where I swung Moonlight, only his version of the story involved at least five horses and me swinging a sword like a pro. I cut him off, laughing, and told the real story.

The other were still impressed, except for Annabeth. "First _hippo_," she muttered, "and then this. They were _taraxippi_. Ghosts that scared normal horses in Ancient Greece." I laughed. "I'm still calling them Tarantulas. The name fits them better."

Annabeth shook her head and kissed Percy. "Well, I'm glad you came back to us…" They walked off, arm in arm. I smiled after them as the crowd dispersed around me, all the kids talking excitedly about what had happened.

"So," somebody said behind me. I whirled to find Connor Stoll smiling at me. And for once, I didn't feel the urge to throw a sarcastic comment at him. "Hi, Connor," I said instead, smiling.

He shuffled awkwardly. "Uh, I just wanted to ask… Would you like to come with the Hermes cabin to the Arts and Crafts pavilion?"

I smiled and waved at his family. "Sure. Why not."

I spent the rest of the day in a cloud of happiness and laughter.

And I know I should say '_I knew this wasn't the End, this was the Beginning_' here, but seriously, who would want to read that cheesy crap?

* * *

**So there ya have it, folks. The not-so-spectacular showdown of my story. It just occurred to me how crappy this is. Oh, well. All flames will be either deleted or reported to the site!**

**THERE WILL BE AN EPILOGUE. READ IT, IT IS CRUCIAL TO THE STORY AND NOT A HAPPY-EVER-AFTER SCENE!**

**The psychology of the situation: So Yvette is so angry at Percy, she literally sits on the river, sniping him with arrows. When Percy comes to apologize, Yvette realizes that she is not really angry at him, and they share a good laugh together before they realize the _taraxippi_ are around them. Yvette saves Percy from getting his head bitten off and apologizes to him in turn when she realizes she is going to die. With their impending doom right in front of them, all differences are naught and can as well be forgiven. She welcomes new respect for Percy and how he won't give up in even the most hopeless situation. When she comes across Moonlight, though, she realizes that the 'magic' sword may be what they need to survive. Throwing herself in front of Percy, at the mercy of the _taraxippi_, she shields him with her own body (and Moonlight). She thereby saves his life. When Poseidon appears to tell her he is proud of her, Yvette first feels the usual resentment towards him like Percy did, and voices it aloud. She is pacified, though, when Poseidon officially claims her, telling her who she is and proving he _has_ been watching her all these years. When Yvette and Percy get back to the campers, everybody is worried about them. Percy tells them the story, playing up Yvette's part, which symbolizes his newfound respect for and the release of his grudge on her. When Connor asks Yvette to join them, she doesn't throw a sarcastic comment at him for the first time. This symbolizes how she has matured and softened up towards Camp a little, no longer so hard and sassy to everybody she meets. It also symbolizes how she and Connor have become closer in the short time she has been at Camp.**

**I do, in my heart, ship Connette, for anybody who has been wondering what their ship name is going to be. I think they fit perfectly together, because they both have the joking, easygoing nature and understand humor and pranks. Also, they share a sense of loyalty to their friends. (I have always thought that, if one of Yvette's friends at school was bullied, she would follow the bullies around and annoy them until they got the hell away.)**

**I made Poseidon tell Yvette what she represents because I have thought that what Jason said in HOH was true: Gods' kids represent their different personalities. Besides, why do kids always look like minor representations of their godly parents if the gods don't have DNA? With Yvette, I was trying to be a little outside the box, if you get it. I was trying to make her more of a person of rivers and fjords. Not the large rolling waves, but the treacherous currents underfoot that pull the sand from under your feet and sweep you out to sea.**

**That being said, ship Connette and have a nice weekend!**


	11. XI - EPILOGUE

Disclaimer: Can I just say, I am not Rick Riordan. I don't think a story by Rick Riordan would be on a FanFiction website, would it?

.

**EPILOGUE**

**XI**

I ran up Half-Blood Hill, the distance easy after three weeks of training every day. And at that moment, I didn't care about anything except the person holding their arms open at the top of the hill. I threw myself into her arms. "Mom! You finally came!

She hugged me tight, patting my back. I smiled into her golden-blonde hair and held on tighter. Then, Inca released me and held me at arms' length. "Oh, you've grown so much in three weeks, Yvette!" I shrugged. "Did I now?"

She smiled. "Still the same, I see. And your sense of fashion hasn't changed." Her eyes wandered to the front of my lime-green tee, which read: _SARCASM: Because beating the crap out of people is illegal_.

"But your bow," she said, taking in the length of wood slung across my shoulder. "Yeah," I said, swinging it off and showing her the wave pattern carved into it. "Longbows exercise your muscles more." She nodded, her eyes taking in the whole of me truly for the first time. "Oh, you've come so far," she whispered. "I don't think I recognise you anymore."

"Hey, it's still me," I told her. "It's not like I got plastic surgery." She smiled and ruffled my hair, to which I responded with an annoyed grunt and over-emphasised efforts to straightened it again.

"Hey, Yvette!" I looked around and high-fived Percy, who was coming over the hill with Annabeth, Connor and some other of my good Hermes friends. "Mom, this is Percy, my sibling. Oh, and by the way, I found out my godly parent is Poseidon, earthshaker, stormbringer, god of the seas."

Inca nodded, her eyes roving about the company, taking in the armour, swords, bows and knives casually distributed over the group. "Nice to meet you," she told Percy. "I'm Inca Meyers."

"Percy Jackson," he said, smiling at her. I breathed an internal sigh of relief. "And this is Annabeth, daughter of Athena and Connor, son of Hermes." Connor bowed and lifted an imaginary hat. My mother smiled. "It's wonderful to meet you all! But, really, I need to talk to Chiron. Could you show me the way, honey?"

"Sure," I said. "You guys going to be okay without me watching your backs?"

Connor waved it off. "We're going to be fine. It's not like you're important."

I made a finger gun and squinted at him. "I am drawing an imaginary target on your face right now."

He laughed and winked at me, then ran off. I smiled and continued to chatter with my mother as we made our way to the porch.

* * *

Triton floated in front of the pearlescent, shimmering screen of mist undulating mere centimeters in front of his face. _She is so… different._ So different from him, and so similar to Percy Jackson, that boy.

_He watched as the girl made a finger gun at the Hermes boy and laughed. The Hermes boy winked at her and turned tail as she and her mother continued up the hill..._

Triton shook his head and swiped his hand violently through the mist, shredding it into thousands of magic sparkles that hung in the water around him for a while. He grunted and moodily reclined in his seaweed armchair, staring at the wall.

Why was he so obsessed with checking on his… He shook his head, disgusted. His _siblings_. He had no idea why he felt the compulsion to see whether they were still alive. That _Percy_ was the most infuriating boy in the history of Olympus! Okay, so maybe Delphin had been more annoying when Poseidon tried to get him to play nursemaid for Triton, but _Percy Jackson_ was a whole chapter by himself. Strike that, he was a whole book for himself. A library of books.

Triton sniffed when he remembered how the boy had shown up in the middle of the Titan War, drifting into the palace unconscious, and the great amount of time Poseidon had spent each day fussing over him. And then, the final offense. Triton's eyes hardened as he remembered swimming up against a wall, tilting his ear towards the door and hearing the reverberations of Poseidon's voice: "No matter..._you_...always...favorite son."

_His favorite son._ Triton's head was in the vice-like grip of his hands. What had that little runt ever done to prove himself? Triton had led Poseidon's troops into battle with nary a thought for his own safety, and then Percy somehow established a mental connection with his Lord, and they were all told to retreat and strike at a completely different location. Poseidon did not even punish him for sitting on his throne afterwards.

_Then again_, Triton thought reluctantly, _Percy Jackson has gone through Tartarus and back. And he survived._ Not even Triton could deny being worried - imagine him, worried! - about the little runt. While he didn't particularly like him, his anger was starting to fade.

_What am I thinking?_ Triton shook his head. _Percy Jackson should not have survived his trip through Tartarus, and yet he did. All the more reason to hate him._ And yet, Triton found that he couldn't. He could not hate this boy, who, without doing anything, it seemed, had won his father's heart, and who had won the Titan War, the Giant War and the battle through Tartarus.

Triton angrily stood up, calling for his servants. He would go and spar for a while. All this sitting around provided much too much time to think.

But maybe, just maybe, the next time a child of Poseidon turned up on their doorstep, Triton wouldn't greet them with a sneer and a growl and a sarcastic comment.

He would greet them with a frown.

* * *

I smiled in the darkness of the tree. The moon was thin overhead, casting only a sparing glow into the forest. I was positioned as a border guard for the first time since coming to Camp Half-Blood. I had forgotten how peaceful and relaxing it was…

Below me, the grass swished. I rolled my eyes. _You were saying, Yvette?_

I took two arrows from the now extensive quiver hanging on the branch next to me and nocked one of them, placing the other in my lap. The bushes rustled and murmured as two figures stumbled into the moonlight, both wearing the blue helmets of the offending team.

"You have got to tell her!" Travis Stoll insisted, while his younger brother shook his head, no. "What if she laughs at me? What if I ruin our friendship?" I relaxed my hold on my bow slightly. This was interesting stuff. _Stuff I can tease Connor about for months._

"Look," Travis said. "You know how Yvette told me to just tell Katie and kiss her? I tried it, and it worked!"

"I want proof," Connor argued. I frowned. _He must be serious about this girl._ For some reason, I felt an unexpected twinge in my gut. Was I… No.

Travis exploded. "Proof! Proof! Katie and I are a couple now! That proof enough for you?" He was getting dangerously close to the border. I decided to take him out.

_Hasta la Vista, Travis_, I thought and released the arrow. It struck Travis, who was in the middle of spreading his arms grandly, in the forehead and took him down in the less a second. Connor yelped and raised his sword. I looked at him and spontaneously decided to take him out with Moonlight.

"Hey," I said, dropping down from my perch, my sword in my right hand. "Surprise!" My best friend squealed like a little girl. I snickered.

"Oh, gods, it's you, Yvette," Connor sighed in relief. I swung at him, and he shrieked and scurried out of the way. "What was that for?"

"I'm on the other team, you _vlacas_. I need to take you out before you cross the border." I swung again, but Connor blocked. I tried to twist his blade so he might drop it. "So, who's that girl you're so worried about?"

Connor disentangled his blade from mine and took a step back. "You heard that?" For some reason, he sounded anxious.

I struck, he blocked. He dealt a blow, I guarded. "I heard all of it, except the mystery girl's name. And you better tell me," I warned, "or the story will be all over camp tomorrow."

He blanched and looked over at his brother, as if thinking. "Take all the time you need," I taunted. "At least, until in ten minutes, or I'll run out of here screaming: Connor has a girlfriend!"

Connor was sweating now, looking insecure. "I… I can't tell you."

"And why not?" I struck at the same time as he did and our swords crossed. A standoff in which only the strongest could persevere. I gritted my teeth and pushed downwards. Connor did the same. "I- I…"

He groaned and pushed harder. "It's a secret."

I was getting angry now. My best friend wouldn't trust me with his secret crush. _Why?_ Wasn't I trustworthy enough? I pushed harder. "You better tell me."

He warded the pressure off, his breath started to stutter. "You said the best chat-up line is to just tell her…"

I was getting annoyed. "Just tell me! I'm your friend! I won't tell anybody, I swear! Aren't I trustworthy enough?"

He looked at me as the pressure increased on our blades. I was breathing hard. "Of course you're trustworthy enough. I just… Tell her, don't tell her… The best chat-up line is to tell her…"

I scoffed. "You know what? We're evenly matched. Somebody has to make the first move to get out of this standoff. Is it gonna be you or me?"

"Yvette…" He sounded almost desperate now. I ignored it. "I think I'll do it, okay?"

"Yvette."

I pulled out of the standoff and swung, but he struck at the same time, our blades crossing once again. "Oh, you are impossible!"

Yvette!"

"What?" I screamed.

Connor was close now, our blades crossing a few centimeters in front of our faces. He looked like he didn't know whether to laugh or cry. "You remember when you told Travis that the best chat-up line was to either kiss the girl or tell her?"

I nodded, my face immobile. _Here it comes._ I didn't know why, but I suddenly felt a protective urge to Connor. Whoever this girl was, I would make sure she never hurt my best friend.

"Well… I've been thinking a lot about that, and that's what Travis and I were arguing about, because I didn't want to kiss her because it might ruin our friendship." He looked at me, an emotion in his eyes that I couldn't read. "But now… Well, since we're standing here, I might as well tell you. The girl I like… It's… It's…"

Then, suddenly, he gently pushed the blades between our faces down and kissed me. I was so surprised, I couldn't move. _It's me? ME!_ And I kissed him back, our blades falling to our sides as we moved closer.

Suddenly, the conch horn blew in the distance, signalling a win for one of the teams. Travis sat up groggily in the dirt. We broke apart.

He grinned. "Wassup?" He fell back again. I looked back at Connor. He looked awkwardly to the side. "So…?"

I smiled a pulled him into another kiss, short and sweet. For a moment, we just stood there, until I paddled back, brandishing his sword and pointing Moonlight at his throat. He stumbled back, taken off guard. I grinned. "I win."

Connor looked thoroughly confused now. "So, do you like me or don't you?"

I grinned and threw his sword back to him, sheathing Moonlight at my waist. "We, mister, are going to the fireworks together."

Connor smiled and together, we ran to wake up Travis.

* * *

"...and, as all heroes do, you must have a fatal flaw."

I looked at Annabeth like she was crazy. "I consider myself fairly _not_ disfigured, thank you very much."

The daughter of Athena shook her head. "No, no. That is not what I meant. A fatal flaw… Every hero, every half-blood has one. Percy is too loyal to his friends, for example." I snorted "What's wrong with being loyal? You can't be _too_ loyal. That isn't a thing."

Annabeth nodded. "You sound so much like Percy when he found out. But it is a thing. My mother once told him that he would sacrifice the world to save his friends. And I think he would still do so."

I shifted uncomfortably, because finding out somebody would rather let the world end than let his friends die? That is some serious mental stuff. I didn't want to be weighed down by this. Heck, it was the fireworks tomorrow, and I still had stuff to plan! "So… If every hero has one, what's yours?"

Annabeth looked around to the side, her face going pink. "I'd rather not say…."

"Come on," I urged her. "I won't tell anybody!"

For a moment, it seemed like she would give in, but then her face hardened. "No, I only share my fatal flaw with people whom I trust wholly. Also, we came to discuss _your_ fatal flaw, not mine." I looked at her curiously, but refrained from saying something. Annabeth studied me like someone studies a science experiment, with detached curiosity. "So, what don't you like?"

"What do you mean, what don't I like?" I asked, puzzled.

"Anything. Anything that annoys you, that makes you angry," she replied, steepling her fingers. I had no idea how Percy liker her, but then, I hadn't been at Camp long.

"Bullies, Brussels sprouts, the color pink..." I answered, thinking hard. "Oh, yes, and failing."

"Failing?" Annabeth's grey eyes seemed to bore into mine.

"Yes," I replied carefully, "Failing. I don't like to be at the bottom of the class. I don't like going around and saying, I can't do this. It just… People would make fun of me. I have my dignity."

"Dignity…" Annabeth's gaze stared right through through me, into the distance, like she was thinking deep, Athena-like thoughts. "One might also call it pride."

"Uh, what?" I had no idea where she was going. "You lost me at 'One might'."

Annabeth stared at me, her face smooth and satisfied, as if I was a mathematical equation she had just solved. "You fatal flaw. It's pride."

"How do you… wait." I stared at the ground, thinking. _Pride…_ The more I thought about it, the more it seemed to fit. How I avoided doing things I wasn't good at… And how I always had a quick response handy… How I never went out without checking I was presentable… How I felt the need to be good at everything, to never let my weakness show, to be the one who came out on top.

I knew what my fatal flaw was. And Annabeth knew. I looked up and found her smiling at me. I smiled back. "My fatal flaw is pride. Got it. Now, can we get on with this? I have some stuff to prepare for the fireworks."

* * *

The cabins all mixed on the 4th of July. Picnic blankets were spread higgledy-piggledy over the beach, a sprawling mass of colour. I nervously tightened my hold on the basket of sweets I had sneaked from the dining pavillion. Tonight was the first time Connor and I would be seen in public together. So far, only Percy and Travis knew.

I perused the patchwork of blankets spread out on the beach. Suddenly, something moved behind me and I turned around, smiling. "Connor!"

"Hey," he said. "Come on, I'll show you where we're sitting." He pointed to a blue-and-yellow blanket at the upper right corner of the beach. I smiled. It was behind all of the others, and we would have a nice view. "You choose good spots."

He grinned. "And you choose nice shirts." I looked down, realizing a had on a dark blue tee with the words: _I'm nice. Until you give me a reason not to be_. I smiled at him. "Hey, are sassy shirts illegal? I would wear them anyway, but are they?"

Connor laughed and sat down, just as the first rocket sparked and screamed into the sky, exploding in a shower of blue sparks. Red and white quickly joined them and then came the pictures: Hercules (twelve times, doing various useless things); Apollo with a bow; Athena with an owl; Zeus with his lightning bolt; Hera wearing what looked like an explosion of peacock feathers and looking horrible (there was a lot of laughter at this one); Poseidon with a trident; and so on and so on.

There were, of course, hearts and arrows scattered throughout the display (it wasn't called the biggest dating event of the summer for nothing!) and the figure of Eros showed up frequently.

We also saw black outlines of various couples. Once, there was a blue-and-grey heart with two black figures, one with a sword and one with a knife. P_ercy and Annabeth_, I thought, even though they laughed it off.

Then, there was a blue-and-pink one with two people flying through little heart-shaped clouds. The campers muttered and turned to a blanket where a girl with choppy brown hair and an ice-blond boy were sitting. The girl rolled her eyes and yelled: "_The fireworks are more interesting than we are!_"

She's right, I thought and looked back up in time to see a red-and-yellow heart with one figure holding a monkey wrench while the other was dressed in a Greek _chiton_ in dazzling colors. I watched as a boy with curly black hair laughed and kissed his caramel-haired girlfriend, who glared at the stars.

Next, there was an orange-and-green heart with a figure holding a rose and one trying to steal it from her while they were kissing. Laughter penetrated the crowd and Connor whispered: "I requested that one explicitly for Travis. I thought he'd like it."

I giggled as Travis turned around and glared at us, Katie Gardener next to him. "I don't think they did."

"Oh, well," he shrugged. Then, his brow furrowed and her pointed up at the sky. "What is _that_?"

I looked up and gasped.

It was a blue-and-orange heart, with two figures standing there, swords crossed. One of them held a floating drop of water in her palm while the other was hiding a bomb behind his back as they kissed over their crossed swords.

I growled. "Connor… If this is supposed to be funny, guess what: It isn't." Connor growled right with me. "It wasn't me, but I can guess who it was…"

We both glared at Travis, who was laughing his ass off a few meters away from me. Connor growled again and started to sit up, but I put my hand on his arm. "We can always kill him later. Right now, we've got other problems…"

Connor looked down and saw the eyes of most of the population at Camp Half-Blood pointed at us. I shook my head. "No, it's not us! Carry on watching the fireworks!"

Muttering and rustling ensued, though none of them listened. I sighed. "Great. We'll be the topic of the evening now."

Connor sighed. "We might as well give them something to look at," he said, pulling me into a kiss. I smiled and kissed him back, before leaning away. "By the way, I hope you got me something."

"What?" He looked confused.

"It's our one-week anniversary," I told him. "Usually, couples give each other gifts." I held up my basket of goodies.

Connor blanched and started to stutter. "Um… well… I…"

I laughed. "Connor…"

"No," he protested. "I'm sorry! I didn't know!"

"Connor!"

"I really didn't, believe me, I've never had a relationship before."

"CONNOR!"

"What?" he asked. I rolled my eyes. "I was being sarcastic."

He turned red. "Oh." Then his eyes wandered to my basket. "Hey, where did you get those from?"

I cleared my throat. "Uh…"

He laughed. "Oh, don't tell me…"

"I didn't steal them! I… okay, I stole them," I admitted.

He smiled. "You, Yvette, are getting as bad as me."

I leaned against him and we kissed just as the grand finale exploded in the sky: A heart that burst into a million dazzling colors.

* * *

**The end. No kidding. That was disgustingly mushy. I just realized how crappy the plot is. Oh well! Hope you liked it!**

**I don't have anything to say to you anymore, so bye!**

**READ & REVIEW!**


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